The MeidasTouch Podcast

Episode Title: Former Health Secretary Becerra on RFK Hearing and CA Gov Race
Date: September 7, 2025
Guest: Javier Becerra, Former Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and California Gubernatorial Candidate

Overview

In this episode, the Meiselas brothers—Ben, Brett, and Jordy—host former HHS Secretary Javier Becerra. The discussion centers on the recent contentious Senate hearing with RFK Jr., the precarious state of public health leadership in the US, especially regarding vaccines and the CDC, and Becerra’s campaign for governor of California. The episode contrasts competent government leadership with the political chaos impacting American health and well-being, and explores what's at stake for California’s future.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Senate RFK Jr. Hearing: Hypocrisy and Danger in Public Health Policy

Timestamps: 01:27 – 05:49

• Republican senators, notably physicians like Senator Barrasso and Senator Cassidy, aggressively questioned RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine stances during hearings, publicly criticizing him for endangering public health.
• Despite vocal criticism during hearings, these senators avoided taking a clear stance publicly, deflecting responsibility and deferring to Trump’s wishes when pressed outside the hearing.
  • Quote:
    “...Your job is literally to second guess it. Like oversight is mean. Second guess. Your job is to say, wait a minute, maybe we're a co-equal branch and what you're doing is killing people.” – Ben (Host), (02:34)
• Becerra remarks how hard it is to watch the systematic dismantling of the CDC, an agency critical for public safety, in real-time without meaningful senatorial intervention.
  • Quote:
    “Here you're seeing the dismantling of an agency, CDC, that is our canary in the coal mine... and here this dismantle is occurring before the senator's eyes, and they're just letting it go. It doesn't make any sense.” – Javier Becerra, (05:49)

2. Leadership at the CDC and Loss of Talent

Timestamps: 07:09 – 09:29

• Loss and dismissal of senior CDC leaders and advisory boards have left the agency vulnerable and “rudderless,” with deep risks for public health.
• Becerra describes the importance of daily or weekly briefings encompassing a range of scientific experts, and how leadership and expertise were crucial to responding to crises like COVID.
  • Quote:
    “Today to believe that we don't have a CDC director in place and that we've lost a couple and that we've lost the team that was actually helping pull together all that important data. It could get very scary... When you're in crisis, you need the best.” – Javier Becerra, (08:07)
  • “Politicians don’t make good scientists.” – Javier Becerra, (08:54)

3. Vaccine Advisory Boards and Risks of Politicization

Timestamps: 09:02 – 11:49

• The gutting and politicization of vaccine advisory committees undermines their critical role—ensuring multiple expert perspectives inform decisions.
  • Quote:
    “The advisory committee is indispensable... you want to hear that symphony of voices because you're about to make a decision about whether this particular vaccine should be provided to kids under the age of 6 years old.” – Javier Becerra, (09:29)
  • Becerra warns that loading committees with partisans removes the necessary diversity of expertise:
    “Now you leave the CDC, its director, and its team rudderless... they've taken everything into account. It's dangerous.” – Javier Becerra, (10:07)
• Ben voices the growing risks of a return of eradicated diseases and the dangerous echoes of the AIDS crisis narrative in current media.
  • Quote:
    “I'm seeing them doing— I'm like, what, what are we talking about here?” – Ben (Host), (11:44)

4. Impact on Everyday Families

Timestamps: 11:49 – 13:36

• Becerra points out the direct danger to parents and ordinary Americans—who now cannot rely on standard sources like the CDC for vaccination guidance.
  • “[Without trusted committees] it can be dangerous because these drugs are, you know, they can save lives. But if it's not done the right way, they can also hurt you. So that's why you have to make sure this is done right.” – Javier Becerra, (12:23)
• References the dire state of vaccination and death rates at the end of the Trump administration, and cautions against potential regression to past crises.
  • “We could go back to those days where four jumbo jets of Americans are perishing every day... All I'm saying is we can't afford to have incompetence governing at HHS or at CDC.” – Javier Becerra, (13:14)

5. Becerra’s California Gubernatorial Run

Timestamps: 13:36 – 18:51

• Ben observes how as HHS Secretary, Becerra stabilized a system in crisis, and frames the California governor's race as a fight against Trump administration overreach—affecting everything from education funding to immigration, to healthcare.
• Becerra pitches his candidacy as tough, experienced, and uniquely suited for turbulent times:
  • Quote:
    “There's a lot of bark out there right now…You need a dog who knows how to bite. And that's where I think I can excel. If some can do it, Becerra can do it better because I've done it.” – Javier Becerra, (14:32)
  • “I had to sue Donald Trump over 120 times to do that. But we showed them we could bite.” – Javier Becerra, (15:05)
• Emphasizes California’s pivotal national role and the need for steady hands to make the state more affordable while pushing back against federal assaults on state policy.

6. Voices of Californians: Stability Over Ideology

Timestamps: 15:56 – 18:51

• Ben and Becerra discuss how even in traditionally conservative areas, Trump’s policies have directly hurt agricultural and working families.
  • Economic pain from trade wars, water mismanagement, restricted labor, and healthcare rollbacks cut across political divides.
• Becerra notes that most Californians, regardless of party, simply want a stable, predictable environment for work, family, healthcare, and education.
  • “They just didn't think that they'd be the people being shaken. And now it's beginning to hit home... What most Californians are saying, what I'm hearing is just give me some stability. I got to go to work in the morning. I got to come back and take care of my kids. I don't have time to have to live on these choppy seas.” – Javier Becerra, (17:08)
  • “Eggs are still too high in price—I think they're, you know, they're feeling like they got ripped off.” – Javier Becerra, (18:50)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It's Alice in Wonderland on steroids. And it's unfortunate, because in Alice in Wonderland, it's a cartoon. Here, it's real. So people will die.”
  – Javier Becerra, (06:48)

• “As goes California, so goes the nation.”
  – Javier Becerra, (18:56)

• On leadership in crisis:
  “When the seas are calm, you can have pretty much anybody steer the ship. But when you're in crisis, you need the best.”
  – Javier Becerra, (08:11)

Important Timestamps

• 01:27 – Introduction to RFK Jr. hearing and Republican senators’ public stance vs. private evasiveness
• 05:49 – Becerra’s reaction to the CDC dismantling and the importance of expert agencies
• 07:37 – The consequences of CDC and advisory board turnover
• 09:29 – Dangers of politicizing vaccine advisory committees
• 10:51 – Concerns about the resurgence of previously controlled diseases
• 13:36 – Transition to California gubernatorial race; contrasts between past HHS leadership and CA’s needs
• 15:56 – What Californians are telling Becerra on the campaign trail: the appeal for stability
• 18:56 – Becerra’s campaign information and parting message

Closing

The episode delivers a stark warning about the ramifications of undermining science and expertise in public health, and how political gamesmanship directly threatens American families. Becerra, combining a record of hard-edged public service and policy detail, makes a case for experienced, steady leadership as he seeks to guide California through turbulent times.