Xavier Becerra spent four years as Biden's top health official demanding Congress give him money to fight disinformation.
Now the man who called himself America's defender against fake online narratives is the beneficiary of the most brazen astroturfing operation of California's 2026 governor's race.
And he still won't say who's behind it.
3,000 Fake Accounts and One Million Views
An AI-powered disinformation firm called Cyabra – trusted by NATO and the U.S. State Department – uncovered a network of more than 3,000 fake profiles across Instagram, X, and Facebook working around the clock to boost Becerra's California gubernatorial campaign.
The fake accounts generated over one million views and roughly 42,000 engagements, according to an analysis shared with the New York Post.
The accounts did two things: manufactured the illusion of organic grassroots enthusiasm for Becerra, and relentlessly attacked his billionaire rival Tom Steyer.
One account was Austria-based, primarily active in German-language European news – until it suddenly started sharing Breitbart articles attacking Steyer's immigration stance.
Another account with almost no profile details repeatedly misidentified Steyer's race as something other than a gubernatorial run.
These aren't fans.
These are operators.
Cyabra flagged the network as a "coordinated cross-platform effort to amplify negative narratives and increase online visibility."
The firm identified synchronized posting times, identical hashtag patterns, and accounts that exist for no other purpose than to make Becerra look like he has a groundswell of support he hasn't actually earned.
The Man Who Couldn't Go Toe to Toe With Social Media
In January 2025, as he was packing up his office at HHS headquarters, Becerra sat down with The Washington Post to explain why Americans didn't trust their government anymore.
He blamed "instantaneous information and disinformation."
He said he couldn't "go toe-to-toe with social media."
He asked Congress for more taxpayer money to fight fake narratives online.
Under his leadership, HHS officials advised Twitter and Facebook on which coronavirus content to remove.
Becerra's agency spent $500,000 on a single initiative fighting COVID "disinformation" targeting Hispanic Americans.
He defended every mandate, every censorship push, every piece of it – and said he'd do it again.
Democrats have been running this play for years.
In 2017, operatives backed by a liberal billionaire created thousands of fake Russian-style bot accounts on Facebook and Twitter to frame Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore as the Kremlin's preferred candidate in Alabama.
Their own internal report admitted they "orchestrated an elaborate false flag operation" to "radicalize Democrats with a Russian bot scandal."
The same people who wrote the Senate Intelligence Committee report on Russian interference were running their own version of it.
Becerra isn't saying who built his operation either.
Fraud on Top of Fake Accounts
The fake accounts aren't even the most damaging story circling Becerra right now.
Days before California's primary, Newsom's former chief of staff Dana Williamson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud.
The scheme pilfered $225,000 from Becerra's own dormant campaign account.
Williamson and Becerra's longtime chief of staff Sean McCluskie allegedly funneled the money through shell companies for fake consulting services.
Veteran Democratic consultant Garry South put it plainly: "Did the account have no one watching it except the consultants who were pilfering from it? Those of us who have run campaigns are scratching our heads."
A man who can't track $225,000 walking out of his own account wants California voters to hand him the fifth-largest economy on earth.
The fake accounts manufacturing his support and the fraud hollowing out his finances aren't separate stories.
They're the same story – and Becerra is hoping California doesn't notice either one before primary day.
Sources:
- "Totally on Brand: Fake Politicians Steyer and Becerra Use Fake Social Media Accounts to Boost Campaigns," RedState, May 22, 2026.
- "Coordinated Boost Through Fake Accounts for Xavier Becerra Raises Fresh Questions About Election Integrity," Truth Based Media, May 22, 2026.
- "Former Newsom Chief of Staff Pleads Guilty to Scheme That Bled Money From Becerra's Account," CalMatters, May 2026.
- "HHS Head Blames 'Instantaneous Disinformation,' Says He Can't 'Go Toe to Toe' With Social Media," Fox News, January 2025.
- "After Mandating Vaccines and Censoring Conservatives, Biden's HHS Sec Wonders Why Nobody Trusts His Agency," Daily Caller, January 13, 2025.
- "Biden HHS Spends $500,000 Fighting COVID-19 Social Media 'Disinformation' for Hispanics," Washington Examiner, December 2023.
- "Democrat Operatives Created Fake Russian Bots on Facebook and Twitter to 'Collusion Hoax' Senate Candidate," PoliticalArena, 2019.
