Xavier Becerra faced criticism during an interview with a San Francisco news outlet when he struggled to answer questions about accepting corporate donations and mistakenly referred to the mayor of San Francisco by the wrong name. The interviewer pointed out that Becerra incorrectly named Mayor David Lurie instead of Daniel Lurie, and failed to correct this mistake. Additionally, Becerra was unable to immediately respond to a question regarding companies from which he would refuse campaign contributions, leading to an uncomfortable silence during the exchange. This interview comes amid speculation about his prospects for becoming California’s governor, with polls indicating that approximately 58% of likely voters support him as of September 20.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-30,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
California’s likely future governor Xavier Becerra continued his streak of awkward moments with the press — stumbling over a fundraising question and botching the name of a Dem ally in an excruciating interview with a San Francisco news outlet.
asserted
governor → continue → outlet
In the new interview, Garrow asked Becerra if there are any companies he wouldn’t accept money from — alluding to criticism that the former HHS secretary took huge checks from Big Oil and other special interests during the gubernatorial primary campaign.
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secretary → ask → campaign
“Sure,” Becerra responded.
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Becerra → respond → ?
What followed was an agonizing pause, then a small laugh.
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followed → follow → ?
“Such as?” Garrow followed up.
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Garrow → follow → ?
“Name some,” Becerra replied.
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Becerra → name → some
The longtime California Dem said he wouldn’t accept money from Palantir, which has reportedly provided data analytics software and other technology to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
uncertain
which → say → Enforcement
He said he’d be okay with defense contractor Lockheed Martin, however.
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he → say → Martin
There was a back-and-forth about Purdue Pharma, as Becerra shared he had sued the company for allegedly causing the opioid crisis as attorney general.
uncertain
he → be → general
“But would you accept money from them?” Garrow asked.
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Garrow → accept → them
He answered: “I mean if it’s a legitimate business and they’re doing business in a way that isn’t destroying lives — “
“But they sparked the opioid crisis,” she noted.
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she → answer → crisis
“I mean, that’s why you go to jail, if you commit a crime, and you served your time, you get to come out.
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you → mean → time
That doesn’t mean for the rest of your life,” he later said, adding he believed in “redemption” for bad companies.
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he → mean → companies
During the primary race, Becerra caught heat from Democratic rivals for accepting huge corporate donations from the likes of Chevron, which gave his campaign a max contribution of $39,200.
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which → catch → 39,200
To the dismay of environmentalists, the former AG defended the money and said Chevron is “not the bad guy” back in April.
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Chevron → defend → April
The Standard also displayed in a screen grab of Becerra’s endorsement page, which touted his support from “Mayor David Lurie” of San Francisco.
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which → display → Francisco
“What’s your relationship like with David?” Garrow asked.
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Garrow → ’ → David
“Growing,” Becerra responded.
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Becerra → grow → ?
“He’s done a number of important things, amazing things.”
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He → do → things
“Do you think David’s been good for San Francisco?” she continued, using the wrong name.
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she → think → name
“I think San Franciscans would say, on the whole, he has,” the candidate replied without ever correcting her.
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candidate → think → her
The Post viewed the endorsement page late Tuesday, which appears to have fixed the name.
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which → view → name
Though the interview was meant to be a bit, many on social media found the clips hard to watch.
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clips → mean → media
“He doesn’t even know Mayor Daniel Lurie name…
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He → know → name
Hell NO! He won’t catch nothing,” another said.
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another → catch → nothing
In a similar interview with Hilton, The Standard’s Garrow roasted the Republican about his positions on ICE, transgender athletes, the cost of bananas and more.
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Garrow → roast → bananas
Regardless, Becerra’s chances of winning the governor job look like a cakewalk.
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chances → win → cakewalk
About 58% of 4,512 likely voters surveyed from Sept. 15 to 20 said they supported Becerra, a former Health and Human Services secretary under former President Joe Biden, over the 33% who backed Hilton, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump.
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who → survey → Trump
The two candidates are scheduled to meet Wednesday in a nationally televised debate in Burbank hosted by CNN.
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candidates → schedule → CNN
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