House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, making a homecoming appearance for California Republicans

on

Saturday, said that after his successful but protracted battle for the gavel, both he and the GOP emerged as a tougher and more formidable political force in Washington.

McCarthy had to make numerous concessions to the most conservative members of Congress to win the speakership, and even then it took 15 ballots for the first time in a century that a speaker was not elected on the first ballot. He called the experience, a spectacle played live on national television, a test of God.

He just thought we’d be stronger if we got through it, McCarthy told hundreds of delegates and guests at a California Republican Party luncheon, his first speech for the state party since winning the post.

McCarthy made no mention of former President Trump, with whom he has a complicated relationship. He was an early ardent supporter of the real estate baron who turned reality TV star during the 2016 campaign, prompting Trump to call

nickname

him my Kevin.

But McCarthy was furious with the then president for failing to quell the insurgents who invaded the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

2021

That was followed by a number of conflicting statements about the president’s responsibility for the violence, first publicly blaming him, then saying that Trump had not instigated the mob.

Nearly a year ago, audio recordings emerged of McCarthy telling fellow GOP leaders in early 2021 that he planned to urge Trump to resign during the final days of his presidency. But recently, McCarthy decided to hand over some 41,000 hours of Jan. 6 security video to Fox News Tucker Carlson, who used the material to fuel an attempt to explain away the deadly attack on the Capitol.

The California Republican Party remains home to a host of Trump acolytes, some of whom were irked by McCarthy’s criticism of the former president in the wake of Jan. 6.

To be honest, I don’t really think he handled it as well as he should, said Elvira Moreno, a 54-year-old deputy from Orange County.

She said he should have worked out his differences with Trump privately to put up a united front: Now that he wasn’t supportive of his friend, if they were ever friends, I didn’t feel like he was taking a strong stand. .

But Moreno, wearing a Trump lanyard and bringing a years-old photo of himself with McCarthy from a

prior

previous convention, said she was proud to see the Bakersfield native rise to second in line for president. She also supported the actions he has taken since becoming a speaker, such as launching Democratic Representatives. Adam

B.

Schiff of Burbank, Eric Swalwell of Dublin, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota from congressional committees.

He shows us that he does the job, Moreno said. Accountability is very important, transparency. What he said was really what I wanted to hear as a Californian, as a committed person for over 35 years.

Huntington Beach Mayor Tony Strickland, who recalled holding and hosting poker nights when he shared a home in Sacramento with McCarthy and Doug LeMalfa when the trio were in the state legislature in early 2010, said

Hey that

he was proud of McCarthy

But

and not surprised that he was successful.

I said, he’ll be the speaker, I don’t care if it takes 100 votes, Strickland said. He’s a fighter and, frankly, he works well with people, but when he makes up his mind, he fights. I think a lot of members of Congress and a lot of people here really appreciate that fight.

They were among about 500 attendees who bought $250 to $350 lunch tickets to see McCarthy, who did not speak to media

Press

during the event. Some spent an extra $500 to go to a VIP reception with the speaker and have their picture taken with him.

McCarthy’s speech included popular Republican touchstones such as strengthening the border, expanding parental rights, supporting law enforcement, opposing China and ridiculing Gov. Gavin Newsoms

haircut

Coiffure while criticizing the Democrat’s spending priorities, including funding for the California bullet train.

“The only thing I think Gavin spends more time on than the high-speed train is spending time on his hair,” McCarthy said.

While the state’s GOP does not yet have a prominent candidate running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Senator Dianne Feinstein, McCarthy has one of the Democrat’s top contenders, Schiff, who has drawn the wrath of Republicans earned for his role as Trump’s top Democratic foe.

“He should never be a senator,” McCarthy said, arguing that Schiff took his “eye off the ball” on issues such as foreign policy and the supply chain.

the speech

What

the party tent

marquis

event of an otherwise relatively sleepy three-day convention

take place

at the Hyatt Regency.

No presidential candidates were in attendance, despite the state’s primaries being less than a year away, and California having the largest number of delegates of any state in the country. Orange County GOP

C

Chairman Fred Whitaker referred to the 2024 presidential race as a crusade during an incantation on Saturday.

Former Representative Devin Nunes, who left Congress to head Trump’s social media company, was scheduled to speak Friday night but canceled due to weather concerns. Two members of Congress spoke in his place, and three others spoke Saturday night, including newly elected Representative John Duarte of

the Central Valley Modesto

and Rep. Seal Beach’s Michelle Steel, who beat a challenge in a tight precinct that includes parts of Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Such electoral results were among the few causes for celebration for a party that last won statewide office in 2006 and whose voters

almost

outnumbered almost 2 to 1

two against one

by Democrats.

Republicans wouldn’t have their five-seat majority in Congress without these two wins, plus three other California picks in 2020, McCarthy said, calling for state party re-election

C

hair wife Jessica Millan Patterson during the internal party elections on Sunday.

In the last two cycles, we’ve done nothing but win, McCarthy said, ignoring the statewide lack of success and the dismal party that showed Newsom’s attempted recall last year.

Millan Patterson, A

protg protege

of McCarthys whom he first urged

First

candidate for the party post in 2019, he is widely expected to win re-election easily.