Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) has made more than a few enemies within the House Republican Conference on Capitol Hill.
The 26-year-old first-term congressman recently ignited a firestorm when he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “thug” and the Ukrainian government “incredibly evil.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy responded at a Capitol press conference when asked about the remarks, saying, “Madison is wrong. If there’s any thug in this world, it’s Putin.”
McCarthy cited Putin’s attacks on a children’s hospital and a theater sheltering hundreds of refugees as examples of his brutality.
But when asked if he still supported Cawthorn’s reelection, McCarthy said “yes.”
Unfortunately, for Cawthorn, things became worse after he said on a podcast that Republican lawmakers had invited him to orgies and done cocaine in front of him. The remarks left many House Republicans, including the Chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, furious and demanding Cawthorn “name names” when he makes such allegations.
In a follow-up meeting with McCarthy, Cawthorn said his remarks were “exaggerated.” McCarthy said afterward that he wouldn’t take further action against Cawthorn — yet.
When pressed for additional details, McCarthy said, “I just told him he’s lost my trust, he’s gonna have to earn it back, and I laid out everything I find is unbecoming. And, you can’t just say, ‘You can’t do this again.’ I mean, he’s, he’s got a lot of members very upset.”
“In the interview, he claims he watched people do cocaine. Then when he comes in, he tells me, he says he thinks he saw maybe a staffer in a parking garage from 100 yards away,” McCarthy said, as recorded by an Axios reporter.
Other lawmakers are utterly fed up with what they perceive to be Cawthorn’s immaturity and unforced errors. Additionally, Cawthorn had been accused of sexual misconduct during his college years. Now, a growing number of Republicans — including both of North Carolina’s U.S. senators — are blasting him.
Indeed, one of them, Sen. Thom Tillis, is publicly backing Cawthorn’s primary opponent.
In a statement expressing his support for state Sen. Chuck Edwards, Tillis said, “Unfortunately, Madison Cawthorn has fallen well short of the most basic standards Western North Carolina expects from their representatives, and voters now have several well-qualified candidates to choose from who would be a significant improvement.”
But despite all that animosity within the GOP caucus and palpable frustration from high-profile conservatives, former President Donald Trump has chosen Cawthorn to speak at his upcoming rally in North Carolina. The announcement allows Cawthorn to defend himself in front of the most enthusiastic Trump supporters at a time when he’s particularly vulnerable.
As The Hill reports:
Cawthorn will be joined by Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), whom Trump has endorsed for the Republican Senate nomination in North Carolina, as well as Bo Hines, a former college football player who scored Trump’s endorsement last month in the race for North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District.
Cawthorn, a 26-year-old serving out his first term in the House, has become the subject of controversy in recent weeks, first after he described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “thug” amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and more recently for claiming on a podcast that some of his colleagues attend orgies and use cocaine.
Those latest allegations, in particular, have drawn the ire of Republican lawmakers in Washington, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who told reporters this week that Cawthorn had “lost my trust, and he’s going to have to earn it back.”
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Still, Cawthorn’s planned appearance at Trump’s April 9 rally in Selma, N.C., suggests that, despite the controversies, he still has the support of the former president, who remains the most influential figure in the modern GOP.
So, what do you think? Is Trump right to invite Cawthorn to speak at his upcoming rally? Or is he failing to hold a Member of Congress accountable for repeated missteps that many say hurt Republicans? Tell us in the comments below!
Patrick Houck is an avid political enthusiast based out of the Washington, D.C., metro area. His expertise is in campaigns and the use of targeted messaging to persuade voters. When not combing through the latest news, you can find him enjoying the company of family and friends or pursuing his love of photography.
I don’t like what was said about Ukraine president and the war there. I trust Trump and I am willing to hear him out on what was reported and what he really said.
I believe many in the Republican congress and senate are also not willing to change and could become a burden to our system and not serving our people well.
I hope more unity to help to pull the country left and right together to move us in the right direction to make the USA greater.
All words are just allegations or name calling at this point nothing has been proven or solid cases. So a man is innocent until proven guilty. I see no reason at this point why not go. Cawthorn should still speak At a Trump Rally. If Trump and others that are holding the Rally are ok with Cawthron being there than let it be.
We know Politicking is pretty much a dirty business. I would probably be in shock of what I see in WDC swamp land bubble too.
From things I have read about congressman Cawthorne, he seems to have a habit of stating things as truth, and then changes his story when pressed on the details of what he has stated. He seems inexperienced and lacking maturity; a kind of Republican AOC. He should take the council of some more experienced fellow members. But, there are many Rhinos he should steer away from!
I read articles about how he also misspoke about his crippling accident, and admitted the truth privately but has not cleared up this story. We don’t need exaggerators and or liars in office. We are suffering as a country because of a loss of integrity-democratic party leads this type of behavior, and Republican party needs to clean house also!
I agree. Cawthorn is simply too immature and apparently not stable enough for the job at this point. I would hope he take the time to get his life together.
The US flag stands for CHARACTER, above and beyond all other attributes. It represents the single essential American standard of conduct embodied in the Constitution. Any person aspiring to elected office has a non-negotiable obligation to be true to that essential attribute. Cawthorne has violated that standard, instead voicing repugnant views. He, along with Boebert, Gosar and Greene should never have been elected to Congress. Rather than working to raise the standards of their respecctive constituents, those members in reality just reflect the lowest standards, joining their constituents in the cesspool.
If this young man is lying he fits right in with most of Congress. I don’t abide liars in any part of my life. I would like to see President Trump investigate this and determine the real truth one way or the other. I have also met Tyler Lee of NC who is running for Congress. He and his fiancé are wonderful God driven people who we could be proud to see in office. We need to purge all the RINOS and get term limits. Trump is usually playing the long game. I hope he has learned his lessons in DC lying and has weeded out those who won’t serve us well and not just those who suck up to the Trump agenda. I love President Trump but he made some huge judgements in error over picks for his cabinet. I’m hoping he picks better this time. I would let Cawthorn speak but I would demand he speak only the truth.
Cawthorn is a RINO.
It’s past time for him to be replaced by a true, patriotic conservative.
Military service is not synonymous with true patriotism. Cawthorn cannot be trusted to be on the right side of an issue important to conservatives or the Republican Party.
Trump is trying to drive a wedge within the Party between him and prominent republican members of Congress. This will only serve to bolster democratic votes. There is really no valid point for Trump to invite Madison Cawthorne to his rally and I hope it’s boycotted.
Does anyone remember the “Boys Town’ sex scandal, it went all the way to the White House. It happened 1940-1949. The video is grainy and the sound is not good in most of the interviews with the children explaining what was done to them. People were murdered. It was sadistic sex with the male and female children. There are articles on it-at least yesterday there were. I heard about it many years ago. Do you really think any of the Politicians have cleaned up their act???
I disagree with him on the President of Ukraine, he inherited a corrupt Government and I hope he is trying to clean it up[.
If you have never of of the “Boystown” children’s scandal that went all the way to the WH, google it. Politicians never change, so it would not surprise me if it was/is still happening.
I don’t suppose that you heard that the Ukrainian leader used martial law to silence the opposition party? You know, it is very possible for a thug to be the object of another thug’s thuggery.
One person’s actions do not affect the character of all conservatives or liberals . . . or relatives. We all have individual accountability for both our actions and reactions. Outliers of all kinds exist on their own.
Sounds like McCarthy, and his group, expect Crawford to do some genuflecting.