Xavier Becerra, President Joe Bidenâs outgoing Health and Human Services secretary, is lamenting Americansâ abysmal distrust in federal health agencies while defending the administrationâs censorship efforts and vaccine mandates on his way out the door.
Becerra blamed Americansâ distrust of federal health agencies on allegedly false public health content that circulates on social media, according to an interview the outgoing HHS secretary gave to The Washington Post that was published Sunday. The outgoing HHS secretary stood by the administration and his own agencyâs pressuring of social media companies to remove vaccine content alleged to be disinformation and its since-retired coronavirus vaccine mandate for federal workers during the interview.
âEvery chance I have to do what the science and the evidence is telling me is going to protect Americans and save lives ⊠Iâd do it again,â Becerra told the Post. âI donât know what more we can do .â
Under Becerraâs leadership, HHS personnel directed social media companies to flag instances of alleged misinformation and provide counter talking points in response to allegedly false information on platforms.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg criticized Biden officials for pressuring the social media behemoth to flag and delete content the administration alleged to be disinformation during an appearance on the âJoe Rogan Experienceâ podcast Friday.
Support for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was largely stagnant during Bidenâs term despite Becerraâs alleged efforts to regain Americansâ trust, according to Gallup polling which found that roughly 40% of Americans held favorable views of the public health agency between September 2021 and September 2024.
Biden notably accused Facebook of âkilling peopleâ to allow for alleged misinformation related to the coronavirus vaccines and the pandemic on the platform in July 2021.
To further suppress public health content the administration alleges to be misinformation, Becerra told the Post that Congress should give the department funding to launch advertising campaigns against information the administration deems false.
âI canât go toe to toe with social media,â Becerra told the Post. âWill give me some money to compete out there with all the disinformation?â
Under Becerraâs tenure, HHS required COVID-19 vaccination of staff within all Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities.
Becerra also supported using taxpayer dollars to fund sex-change operations on minors, integrated âanti-racismâ policies into the agencyâs operations and allegedly provided free Healthcare services to illegal migrants during his time leading HHS.
Robert Redfield, CDC director during President-elect Donald Trumpâs first administration, previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation that some of the Biden administrationâs actions directly contributed to federal health agencies losing support and credibility.
âThe vaccine mandates were a big mistake. Closing down our economyâa big mistake. Shutting down our schoolsâa big mistake. So, there was a huge loss of credibility and trust that has to be rebuilt,â Redfield told the DCNF. âWe should foster discussion and debate , and if someone has a question about looking at data to determine a vaccineâs safety that shouldnât be listed as anti-vax. That should be listed as wanting an honest, open discussion about what is the data?â
Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Trumpâs nominee to lead HHS, notably opposes vaccine mandates and government censorship of vaccine content. Kennedy has yet to have his confirmation hearings before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and Senate Finance Committee scheduled.
An HHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to the DCNFâs request for comment.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporterâs byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].