Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)

Rep. McCarthy is a Baptist who has said he is "proud to be a Christian." He attends Valley Baptist Church in Bakersfield, CA. On March 9, 2020, Rep. McCarthy used the term "Chinese Coronavirus" in a tweet, for which he refused to apologize. He later called it a "China born disease" and dismissed claims of racism as Democrats "sowing division." Rep. McCarthy sits on the GOP-led China Task Force, which issued a report in September 2020. While McCarthy claimed that its proposals had "bipartisan support," the task force is wholly composed of Republicans. The report claims that "the CCP never embraced capitalism" (2), despite abundant evidence to the contrary, in order to set up a false dichotomy between "the free world" and the CCP. The report also insinuates that the CCP is responsible for "killing almost one million people to date" through the coronavirus ("Executive Summary").

Valley Baptist Church, headed by Pastor Roger Spradlin, is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention. (For details on the SBC's issues with race, see Senator Lindsey Graham.) Pastor Spradlin gave the opening invocation for the House chamber on July 31, 2014; Rep. McCarthy welcomed him as his "good friend." Valley Baptist's website states, "Christians should oppose racism."

As of 2019, California's Asian population was 5.8 million. The Stop AAPI Hate's California report from June 2020 counted over 800 hate incidents in the state over a 3-month period. Bakersfield, which had an Asian population of approximately 29,637 as of 2019, is known as a hotbed of Neo-Nazi and Klan activity, the latter of which dates back to the early 1900's.

For possible responses from McCarthy's church members, consult the Timeline.