Biden Advisor Rebukes GOP for Using Old Insult Against Becerra

Susan Rice, a key advisor to President Joe Biden, has publicly stated her support for Xavier Becerra’s gubernatorial campaign, pushing back against Republican Steve Hilton for using a past insult she directed at Becerra. Hilton invoked Rice’s reported profane remark, calling Becerra a “bitch-ass,” during a recent debate and launched a website with the same moniker.

Rice, who previously served as Biden’s Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, addressed the controversy in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "Make no mistake, I support [Xavier Becerra]," Rice wrote, directly addressing Hilton. "So stop using my name against him."

According to reports from 2024, Rice had previously referred to Becerra as an “idiot” and a “bitch-ass” while he was serving as Secretary of Health and Human Services. These criticisms reportedly stemmed from Becerra’s handling of the child migrant crisis and his remarks about migrant children, which were described as callous by former colleagues.

Hilton’s campaign has leaned into these past criticisms, creating the website bitchassbecerra.com. The site criticizes Becerra’s record as HHS secretary, associating him with corporate interests and alleged failures in areas such as “chaos, fraud, child trafficking, [and] gender extremism.”

This is not the first time Becerra has faced criticism from former Biden administration officials. In May, former Biden official Xochitl Hinojosa questioned Becerra’s qualifications for governor on CNN, stating, “I don’t think that he will be able to stand up to Trump and lead. He was not effective in governing. He was not an effective HHS secretary.” The Becerra campaign has dismissed such critiques as stemming from “jealousy.”

Rice's public statement appears to be an effort to quell the use of her past comments as a political weapon against Becerra, reaffirming her support for his candidacy despite previous harsh assessments.