Early in the morning on Dec. 5, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy mockingly alluded on Facebook to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s widely criticized attendance at a party the month before at the exclusive French Laundry restaurant, a maskless gathering that drew accusations of hypocrisy and elitism.
But hours after publishing his post, McCarthy attended his own maskless gathering — a wedding for his son, Connor, who got married that afternoon at a venue in San Luis Obispo County, The Times has learned. The event appeared to flout longstanding state COVID-19 rules that prohibit wedding receptions and require that masks be worn during wedding ceremonies.
The wedding took place on the day that California announced a forthcoming stay-at-home order for the southern half of the state where the virus was raging and available intensive care unit beds were alarmingly low. The order went into effect the next night, including in San Luis Obispo County.
Two videos of the outdoor nuptials at the Cass House in Cayucos show that the dozen or so attendees visible in the images were not wearing masks, the Republican congressman from Bakersfield included. The videos also showed attendees inside a building while wearing no masks — among them the bride, who is filmed getting her hair combed and sprayed (the stylist in the shot is wearing a mask).
