Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician who served as the 55th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from January to October 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he represents California’s 20th congressional district, which encompasses most of the San Joaquin Valley. McCarthy has been the leader of the House Republican Conference since 2019 and served as House Minority Leader from 2019 until his election as speaker in 2023. He has been a member of House Republican leadership since 2009. Because of eight members of his own party who sought his removal as speaker, his tenure was the third-shortest for a Speaker of the House in United States history, and he is the first speaker to ever be removed from the role during a legislative session. I spoke to Mr. McCarthy this past Monday, when Congress had still not elected his successor.

 

Can I call you Mr. Speaker? When I spoke to Newt Gingrich a couple of weeks ago, they told me that his title is Mr. Speaker, so…
Laughs. Yes, you may call me Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, you’re considered a great friend of Israel and the Jewish people, and in these times we need a lot of friends.
Yes, we do. What’s happening in Israel just breaks my heart.

What touched me and many others was that you didn’t just come to the defense of Israel but you did so very passionately and personally. Your friendship came through.
It’s very personal for me. My first trip to Israel was before I ran for Congress, when I was in the State House. You just create a unique bond. Growing up, I had a few Jewish friends, and you learn a different culture, different understanding, different religion. And then going to Israel itself, I just realized that there is no greater ally to America, and the importance of Israel and democracy. Since I’ve been in Congress, I’ve always taken it upon myself to always lead all of the new freshmen to Israel. I think it’s so important to continue to bond and create those relationships. One of my greatest honors was when my first international trip as speaker was to Israel to speak in the Knesset for the 75th anniversary of the creation of Israel.

What do you think the people of the United States need to know about Israel that is not coming through?
I think there is great strength in America for Israel. I’ve known from times past that my own church would have the Israeli prime ministers visit to speak, and we’d have a packed house. There are such shared values that we have that I think America understands it greatly. I took my mother to Israel last February, and we visited that kibbutz near Gaza where Hamas killed babies and others.

So this was very personal for you.
Very personal.

You probably met many of those families that lost loved ones.
Yes. Personally. We went to the child care and to the soccer fields. We went to look at the fence with Gaza. What these people have done is horrific. Human beings do not do things like this. This is more than a terrorist attack, and that’s why they have to be destroyed.

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