Kevin McCarthy attended son’s maskless wedding in SLO County – ‘We took every precaution’
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy attended his son’s wedding at the Cass House in Cayucos in an outdoor maskless ceremony in December as San Luis Obispo County had just experienced its highest single-day death toll from COVID-19.
McCarthy defended himself to the Los Angeles Times after videos of the wedding surfaced online showing McCarthy and a little more than a dozen other attendees not wearing masks.
“My son married the love of his life in December — and though the wedding was small, the love we have for them could not be bigger,” McCarthy wrote in an Instagram caption. “Turned commenting off on this one. It’s a politics-free post!”
The wedding, which took place on Dec. 5, was after California announced a regional stay-at-home order that prohibited gatherings of any size for regions with less than 15% ICU availability.
San Luis Obispo County fell below the 15% threshold on Dec. 4, however, and the order went into effect locally on Dec. 6.
California has also prohibited wedding receptions and requires attendees to social distance and wear masks during ceremonies.
McCarthy told the LA Times “you better believe” that he would “celebrate this beautiful day on December 5, 2020 again.”
“We took every precaution to ensure a safe celebration — starting with just 13 family members,” the statement said. “We spent the majority of the time outside with the dinner following the ceremony in an almost completely open area. We wore masks indoors that day, except in those instances where some had to let makeup dry or when we were eating.”
“The arbitrary lockdown orders have been devastating to families, small businesses, and communities,” McCarthy continued. “What’s worse is that Democrat politicians promulgating or advocating for lockdown policies have often ignored these very mandates they are imposing on everyone else.”
SLO County venue, caterer respond
Traci Hozie, owner of the Cass House, told The Tribune that the McCarthy wedding was the only event that went forward after the venue had refunded or rescheduled all other wedding party bookings due to the pandemic.
Hozie said that 14 guests attended an outdoor ceremony and 12 attended a dinner in the outdoor grill restaurant. She added that all who attended the dinner were family members who had been tested prior to attending.
She told the LA Times the venue was “very comfortable that we could meet all the restrictions and guidelines and keep everyone safe.”
The event was catered by Paso Robles’ the Hatch Rotisserie & Bar, which is the exclusive caterer for Cass House events. Maggie Cameron, owner of The Hatch, said their staff provided outdoor dinner service after the ceremony for about a dozen close family members of the couple.
“The wedding was a fluid one, meaning that details changed as various COVID-related restrictions constricted and eased,” Cameron wrote in a statement sent to The Tribune. “The family was very COVID-conscious and made our team of two feel safe and respected at all times by wearing masks when not eating and keeping physical distance when we weren’t actively serving the plated and coursed dinner.”
Cameron added the service their business provided was not a political endorsement of McCarthy, but an acknowledgment of our presence at a small, outdoor, family gathering before a regional stay-at-home order went into effect in our county.”
Cameron thanked Cass House for “the thoughtful care they gave to the safety and security of The Hatch team and our clients on their very special day.”
McCarthy mocked Newsom
The ceremony was held hours after McCarthy posted a video on Facebook mocking Gov. Gavin Newsom’s widely criticized attendance at a maskless party the month before at the exclusive French Laundry restaurant.
Newsom later said he shouldn’t have attended the party with several other households on Nov. 6 as California was experiencing a surge in cases.
McCarthy is among several California lawmakers who have come under fire for flouting coronavirus precautions.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was “set up” after she was videotaped during a salon visit over the summer not wearing a mask and faced criticism from former President Donald Trump.
Hair salons closed in San Francisco in March and were allowed to reopen on Sept. 1 for outdoor services, according to Forbes.
“It was clearly a setup,” Pelosi said. “I take responsibility for falling for a setup by a neighborhood salon I’ve gone to for many years.”
McCarthy previously criticized Newsom for issuing a statewide shelter-in-place order at the beginning of the pandemic without consulting other California lawmakers.
“We do think there was an ability to do this without shutting down the entire state,” McCarthy told Fox News in March. “I hope he consulted with a lot of experts before he just made this decision.”
This story was originally published February 11, 2021 at 12:34 PM with the headline "Kevin McCarthy attended son’s maskless wedding in SLO County – ‘We took every precaution’."