Xavier Becerra fudged his back story — here’s why it matters

Politicians with impressive credentials — and strong performance records — don’t need to pad their origin stories to impress voters.

And then there’s Xavier Becerra.

What’s a guy slammed by former colleagues as an “idiot,” “b— ass,” and not qualified “to be the boss of anything,” to do?

Pander and pretend, of course.

Becerra, running to be governor of the most populous state in the nation, has been on blast again, this time for fudging his back story.

The ex-Biden Cabinet secretary claimed his parents immigrated to America with just $12 … when actually, his dad was born in Sacramento.

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Oops. 

Becerra, like others before him, has only embarrassed himself by distorting his personal story in a sad effort (in this case) to exploit identity politics and pander to Latino voters.

Critics of the fudge have decried the candidate’s “stolen (immigrant) valor” — for posing as the son of a hard-luck immigrant done good.

Such contortions rarely work in the fibber’s favor. 

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s flimsy claims of Indian ancestry have earned her enduring mockery from President Trump as “Pocahontas.”

Connecticut Sen. Dick Blumenthal’s suggestion that he served “in Vietnam” — rather than conceding that he served stateside in the US Marine Corps Reserves during the Vietnam War — likewise boomeranged; he admitted he’d repeatedly “misspoken.”

And Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrats’ 2024 vice presidential candidate, was dogged in the campaign by a long list of misstatements, on topics ranging from his military service to his prior DUI arrest to his whereabouts during the 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square.

Even Gov. Gavin Newsom has tried to peddle a hard-luck narrative, downplay his family connections, and perhaps embellish his college baseball resume.

And we all know how authentic and trustworthy Mr. French Laundry is.

The flights of fancy raise some questions.

Why embellish when the truth will do just fine? 

Why fudge when your story is easily checked? 

And why should we believe anything you say when you don’t play it straight on the basics?

All this matters because we want honor, honesty and authenticity from those who purport to lead us.

If we can’t trust candidates’ own back stories, can we trust anything else they tell us — about taxes, budgets, plagues, emergencies, the climate, the endless “need” for more taxes, and more?

Voters don’t need Hollywood glow-ups of politicians’ life stories. 

They need integrity from those who hold power.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, in speech about Becerra Wednesday, blasted his rival as an empty suit.

That’s it exactly.

Becerra’s shaped by a state Democratic Party machine that deems him a lump of clay with a tie.

Why isn’t the truth good enough, indeed?