Kevin McCarthy rebuffs intraparty opposition to speakership bid after Biden dinner
A group of conservatives are opposing or critiquing McCarthy's speaker bid
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican primed to seek the House speakership in January, rebuffed critics within his own party who have criticized his handling of their caucus, steadfastness to key issues and the fact he attended a White House state dinner at which Hunter Biden was present.
McCarthy told "Jesse Watters Primetime" that he and his mother Roberta — his plus-one that evening — were outnumbered by Biden acolytes and liberals at the dinner, which hosted French President Emmanuel Macron and honored the United States' first and oldest ally.
Other attendees included Joe Scarborough and his wife Mika Brzezinski.
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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California speaks at an election event, Nov. 9, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Scarborough's fellow MSNBC pundit Mike Barnicle also made the guest list, along with singer John Legend, "Seinfeld" star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, CBS host Stephen Colbert, teachers union boss Randi Weingarten and former Walt Disney Studios Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg.
McCarthy said that no matter the partisan makeup of the guest list, it was important for him to appear at the White House event, telling Fox News firstly that France is America's inaugural ally and that the United States wouldn't exist without its help in the Revolutionary War.
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Hunter Biden's laptop was at the center of a Big Tech censorship campaign in 2020. (Kevin Lamarque)
"They were here in our time of need," he said, adding he saw Hunter Biden "from afar" but did not engage with the man his new House majority plans to investigate.
McCarthy said he met with the elder Biden earlier this week and claimed to have achieved an agreement in which the Pentagon's coronavirus vaccination mandate will be essentially lifted through the next congressional National Defense Authorization.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Fife and Drum Corps marches by as President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron look on, during an arrival ceremony. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
McCarthy later reiterated how his presence at the dinner and his meeting with Biden should not be seen as an inability to rebuff political opposition.
"If somebody wants to argue about whether I'll represent this country right and respect the very first ally that helped us create this nation, I don't think they have their hearts in the right place," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"They're concerned about where was I before Thanksgiving on the border? We're going to investigate and secure this border."