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GOP candidate in Newsom recall election holds rally at San Jose's Calvary Chapel
Conservative talk-show host Larry Elder, a Republican candidate in the election to recall Governor Gavin Newsom, held a rally at a San Jose church on Thursday. You may remember Calvary Chapel for defying local COVID rules at the height of the pandemic last year.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Conservative talk-show host Larry Elder, a Republican candidate in the election to recall Governor Gavin Newsom, held a rally in San Jose on Thursday.
But the rally wasn't held just anywhere. The chosen site for Elder's appearance was Calvary Chapel. You may recall the church's antics at the height of the pandemic last year, where it racked up over $1 million in fines for defying local COVID ordinances by letting its congregation gather when it was dangerous to do so.
Elder filled the chapel with supporters, some of whom were masked, as he blasted Gov. Newsom by saying he enacted more severe policies than any other governor in the U.S. regarding COVID.
He blamed those policies for many California's businesses shutting down.
"I know how difficult it is to run a business. Many of them never succeed. Those who do succeed, often run on very thin profit margins, often from payroll to payroll," Elder said. He surprisingly argued for science, not exactly a move out of the GOP playbook as of late, but did it in a way to attack his opponent.
"A third of all small businesses in California are now gone forever because [Newsom] ignored science," Elder said.
As for Calvary Church, its pastors had to make court appearances on contempt charges because of their repeated defiance.