House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy has spent more than 3 hours delivering a rambling, erratic speech referencing Elon Musk, Abraham Lincoln, China, and Afghanistan in bid to delay passage of Biden spending bill

• House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California delivered a chaotic marathon speech late Thursday.
• McCarthy was trying to stall Democrats passing their roughly $1.7 trillion social spending bill.

In an effort to stall and frustrate Democrats seeking to pass a $2 trillion social spending bill, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy took to the House floor Thursday night and delivered a meandering speech which drew audible jeers numerous times from Democrats seated in the chamber.

Airing a series of grievances with his Democratic colleagues, the GOP congressman from California bounced around topics ranging from the military withdrawal from Afghanistan, Vice President Kamala Harris' laugh, supersonic weapons, Elon Musk, Abraham Lincoln, and the best portraits hung in his office.

The California Republican took advantage of a procedural privilege which gives party leaders unlimited time to speak, known as the "magic minute." McCarthy's gambit resembled the Senate filibuster, though the House doesn't formally have one.

Democrats loudly jeered McCarthy as he switched topics to the censure of Rep. Paul Gosar among others, including defunding the police. A group of about a dozen House Democrats soon filed out of the chamber, led by Rep. Joyce Beatty, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

"We had enough at that point," Beatty told Insider. "I organized the group to just leave at one of his ridiculous moments."

Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas described McCarthy's remarks as "unhinged" to Insider with a bout of theatrics as he left the floor and headed to his office.

At one point, McCarthy bemoaned Democrats for prioritizing subsidies for electric vehicles and complained that he can't even get to test drive a Tesla.

"I can't even afford to test drive a Tesla, and Elon is one of my best friends," McCarthy said.

Tesla does not demand a fee for test driving its vehicles, according to the company website.

As McCarthy's speech continued, scores of frustrated Democrats left for their offices and mocked McCarthy both in the halls of Congress and online.

"I'm just getting geared up," McCarthy said as he entered the third hour of his speech. House Democrats ultimately punted a vote on passage of the bill until Friday morning.

McCarthy appeared to be gunning to break a record set by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California for the longest floor speech. In 2018, she took to the House floor and spoke for eight hours in defense of young immigrants facing deportation, citing Bible verses and reading personal stories from "Dreamers."

House Democrats hope to pass the social spending bill on Friday, sending it to the Senate.