Madison Cawthorn.Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
Outlets including theAssociated Press, ABC News and CNN report that 26-year-old Cawthornconceded the race to state Sen. Chuck Edwardson Tuesday, after vote tallies made clear that the incumbent freshmen wouldnot win the race.
“I received a call from Congressman Cawthorn just a few of minutes ago, just as I expected he presented himself in a very classy and humble way and offered his support to our campaign in absolutely anyway that we can use him,” Edwards told supporters in a call, CNN reports.
Theyoungest current member of Congress, Cawthorn had the coveted support of former PresidentDonald Trump, who endorsed him for reelection last year and urged voters to send him back to Washington for a second term despite the controversies.
“When Madison was first elected to Congress, he did a great job,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform, according to reports. “Recently, he made some foolish mistakes, which I don’t believe he’ll make again … let’s give Madison a second chance!”
Cawthorn was elected in 2020 to represent North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District but announced in November 2021 that he was seeking a second term to fill a new seat created in the state’s redistricting process. He switched back after courts struck down North Carolina’s new congressional map.
The challenge also noted that Cawthorn described those who stormed the Capitol as “political hostages” and “political prisoners.”
When Cawthorn referred to Ukraine’s PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyyas a “thug,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other high-profile GOP lawmakers said in March he was “wrong” and an “outlier” in the party.
Rep. Madison Cawthorn.Zuma/SplashNews.com
Cawthorn later clarified his statements through a spokesman who said he was expressing “displeasure” at how foreign leaders “used false propaganda to entice America into becoming involved in an overseas conflict.”
“It’s just frustrating. There’s no evidence behind his statements,” McCarthy said after meeting with Cawthorn. “I told him you can’t make statements like that, as a member of Congress, that affects everybody else and the country as a whole.”
Since the remarks about orgies and cocaine, the headlines continued.
After Politico published images in April of Cawthorn wearing lingerie, he claimed the photos were in jest and said they were taken during part of an activity on a cruise.
Rep. Madison Cawthorn.Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
“I guess the left thinks goofy vacation photos during a game on a cruise (taken waaay before I ran for Congress) is going to somehow hurt me?” Cawthorn wrote in a tweet. “They’re running out of things to throw at me…”
Days later, the congressman wascited for illegal gun possessionafter a loaded firearm was found in his bag at a North Carolina airport, according to authorities. It was the second time Cawthorn has been stopped at an airport for carrying a firearm.
Cawthorn addressed a private video that had begun circulating online in early May — this one appearing to show him rubbing his naked body on someone else.
“A new hit against me just dropped. Years ago, in this video, I was being crass with a friend, trying to be funny,” Cawthornwrote on Twitterin response to the video.
“We were acting foolish, and joking. That’s it,” he continued. “I’m NOT backing down. I told you there would be a drip drip campaign. Blackmail won’t win. We will.”
source: people.com
