Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) received a lengthy profile in Sunday’s New York Times, but the story was released online Saturday and drew strong reaction from social media.

In the article, written by Times’ reporter Adam Nagourney, McCarthy is quoted as saying that California’s liberal state leadership needs to stop resisting President Donald Trump.

“Look, I will represent my district, and I will represent my state,” Mr. McCarthy told the Times. “But what they are doing, they are playing with fire. Donald Trump is not going out in any way or form to attack California. They are the ones who are attacking California right now. They are the ones who are putting Californians at risk in every shape and form. And they are doing it to make a political point, which is wrong.”

The rest of the story is a profile on McCarthy’s rise to House of Representatives Majority Leader, but he was also one of the first to back Trump’s campaign for president. A notable element of the story is that Gov. Jerry Brown declined to comment on McCarthy.

Gov. Jerry Brown, who has mixed his attacks on Mr. Trump with efforts to find common ground on some issues, including a $100 billion high-speed rail line between San Francisco and Los Angeles, declined to comment on Mr. McCarthy.

The story’s release on social media drew the ire from the social media universe, which mostly condemned McCarthy’s support of Trump.