Madison Cawthorn

[lpetrich]

This young man is one of the youngest people ever elected to the US Congress, pressing against the 25-year minimum age. He is far from alone in that, but he is currently the youngest person in Congress, beating AOC, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.

His district is NC-11, and it contains most of western North Carolina.

Madison Cawthorn wants to be the AOC of the GOP - Sep 23

She's definitely the vanguard for her party right now,' the 25-year-old congressional candidate says of AOC, 'and that's something I want to be for the Republican Party'

...
Cawthorn was invited to address the Republican National Convention in late August. During his speech on the third night of the convention, the camera zoomed out to show him seated in a wheelchair as he spoke about his effort to overcome adversity and empower himself after a near-fatal car accident six years ago left him paralyzed from the waist down.

“I say to Americans who love our country, young and old, be a radical for freedom, be a radical for liberty, and be a radical for our republic, for which I stand,” Madison Cawthorn concluded, rendering his statement literal by lifting himself, with the aid of a walker, out of his wheelchair and onto his feet.

He talked about visiting Adolf Hitler's mountain villa Eagle's Nest, calling him "the Führer".

“I’m not focused on tearing down statues. I’m not focused on gender reassignment surgery. I’m not focused on incremental GDP growth,” said Cawthorn, who believes that his message will resonate with voters. “I’m focused on dining room politics, what matters to a young family sitting around their tables with their kids.”

...
The young candidate positioned himself as fervently pro-Israel, assuring JI that he would push for a “stronger Zionist state” should he be elected to the House. Cawthorn reserved harsh criticism for the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment movement, which he characterized as “a hate organization” and an “antisemitic indoctrination movement.”

About the Jewish community,

“I’ve learned a lot — that the Jewish community is just really, mainly a cultural community,” Cawthorn said. “It’s not so much religious. And then, I also learned pretty heavily that there’s a difference between Judaism and Zionism. And, you know, I think I’ve really gotten a lot of insight as to why a lot of Jews vote Democrat.”

Like not caring enough about Israel, he claims.

Cawthorn — who is Christian and considers himself an “entity of God, as all Christians should” — described his first and only trip to Israel in 2018 as a spiritual journey. “It was a religious expedition, I would say, to go see all these Bible stories I’ve heard from a very young age, to go see the places that are connected with them,” said Cawthorn, who was coincidentally in Israel during the ceremony relocating the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

...
Though Madison Cawthorn did not earn Trump’s imprimatur during the primary, he casts himself as a strong supporter of the president’s goals, particularly on foreign policy.

...
Cawthorn, whose policy priorities include deregulating healthcare and making infrastructural improvements to broadband, entered the race for Meadows’s seat because he saw, as he put it, “a deficit of courage in the Republican Party.”

...
In a recent debate, Cawthorn denied allegations of sexual impropriety, including forcible kissing and unwanted touching reported by the Christian evangelical news magazine World. “I have never done anything sexually inappropriate in my life,” he said.

He has had to explain why he used the acronym SPQR - an acronym that some white nationalists use. It's Senatus Populusque Romanus - roughly "Senate and People of Rome" in Latin.

As to him and AOC,

“I see myself as akin to her in a lot of ways,” Madison Cawthorn said. “I think that most of her policies and ideologies are pretty asinine, but I will tell you that the way she goes about executing them, I think, is incredible. I think it’s very effective. I think that’s something that Republicans need to learn from, just because she is influencing an entire generation. I mean, she’s doing a great job of it, too. And I’m sure her and I will get along when I get to Congress, but I doubt we will get along well on the House floor, just because we have very different political beliefs.”

“She’s definitely the vanguard for her party right now,” Cawthorn added, “and that’s something I want to be for the Republican Party.”

 

[lpetrich]

Trump’s golden boy no shoo-in for red North Carolina seat - POLITICO - Nov 1

Madison Cawthorn, the paraplegic survivor of a near-fatal car crash, achieved instant star power after a June primary in which he toppled the candidate endorsed by both President Donald Trump and former GOP Rep. Mark Meadows, who resigned the seat to become the president’s chief of staff. Armed with his newfound fame, Cawthorn has centered his campaign on a scathing critique of his own party, calling it xenophobic, feckless and devoid of empathy — all while aligning himself closely with a president accused of embodying those very traits.

“I definitely am running against the Republican Party,” he said in an interview this week, calling the GOP “timid” on everything from race to immigration to health care. “They’re a party that doesn’t try to tackle real issues. They are a party that always says no to things.”

He gripes that the Republican Party is very bad at presenting its policies, policies he considers mostly right.

On immigration, “we come across extremely xenophobic,” he said. “When we say we want a secure border — it sounds like, 'Oh, well. It’s because you don’t like people that are brown.'” On health care, the GOP has offered nothing: “I’m a pretty astute person. When they say repeal and replace, I have absolutely zero idea what they plan to replace Obamacare with."

“We should be thought leaders in America," he said. "And, you know, we shouldn’t even be in these large social-issue debates with the Democratic Party.”

He called Republicans' failure to connect with young voters a "generational time bomb".

His opponent Moe Davis:

On the trail, he repeatedly cast Cawthorn as a clueless 20-something "with no education, no training, no experience that qualifies him for the job.”

He seems shocked that anyone could see Cawthorn as qualified to serve in Congress. In an interview, Davis rattled off a list of times he said his opponent seemed to be unaware of basic facts, including when he suggested he would be sworn in this month instead of in January; and an interview in which he suggested Congress could have over 500 members after the next census.

“He wants to write the tax code, but he can’t manage his own taxes. He wants to regulate insurance, but he’s still on his daddy’s policy,” Davis said. “He’s never had a mortgage. He’s never had a student loan, never had a full-time job.”

Moe Davis was not alone.

And some in the GOP have questioned how much Cawthorn can tout an inclusive message while firmly backing Trump.

“It makes nice rhetoric,” said Bob Orr, a former Republican state Supreme Court justice who opposes Trump and voted for Davis. Orr said he understands some of Cawthorn’s critiques of the party but is unclear on how he would reform it.

“I’ve seen nothing in his very brief tenure on the political stage to show that he’s willing to back anything or advocate for anything that would reverse that perception,” he said.

 

[lpetrich]

Madison Cawthorn won the election by a 12% margin.

Madison Cawthorn, the GOP's young star, arrives in Washington

The first thing he did, according to a post on his Instagram page published the following day, was bow his head in prayer and “give glory to God.” But the first thing many outside his immediate orbit saw was a short but provocative tweet that was far less conciliatory than the seemingly inclusive message he had preached throughout his campaign.

“Cry more, lib,” Cawthorn wrote at 9:24 p.m., just a few minutes after the election had been called.

From freshman orientation,

“It’s actually incredible,” Cawthorn said of orientation. “I’m a lover of history, so it’s incredible to be in a place where we had the vote to decide to have the Emancipation Proclamation, where we decided to go to World War II, where the civil rights battles were fought. I mean, it’s just, I got to spend about 30 minutes all by myself on the House floor yesterday — and just to be frank with you, I was in awe.”

Except that the Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order, not anything decided by Congress.

On meeting AOC,

“I’m looking forward to it, though, for sure,” he said. “Disagree with just about everything she believes in, but I think that we need more people of conviction.”

 

[lpetrich]

Then on religion,

After the crash, he also picked up a sideline as a preacher, delivering sermons to churches throughout North Carolina. “It really gave me a great platform to really share my testimony,” he said.

The congressman-elect, who was raised Baptist but is now nondenominational, said that he is a devout Christian. “I would say I have a very, very, very strong faith and [am] very grounded in the actual word,” he told JI, adding that he had read through “just about every single religious work there is,” including the Torah and the Quran.

The Torah is not a separate work but either Jewish religious lore in general or the first five books of the Old Testament / Hebrew Bible / Tanakh. The former includes the OT and the Talmud, a huge bulk of writings from Roman-Empire-era rabbis.

“The thing I found when I was actually reading through the Quran is that Christianity — that is a very easy switch to make to lead a Muslim to Christ,” Cawthorn said.

“They believe Jesus is a real person,” he said of Muslims. “They believe he was a prophet, though. And so when you’re trying to lead an atheist to Christ, or, say, kind of a traditional Jewish person, you kind of have to make people really — you have to sell Jesus a lot, because, one, they don’t really believe that, you know — some very devout Jews just think he’s kind of a good guy. That’s great. But, you know, the Muslims, they already believe that he was somewhat divine, and so all you have to do is just be like, he wasn’t just a good man, he was a god, and now if you can submit to that then you believe in Christ.”

Muslims believe that Jesus Christ was an inspired prophet, a predecessor of Mohammed.

Had he ever tried to convert any Jews to the Christian faith?

“I have,” he said with a laugh. “I have, unsuccessfully. I have switched a lot of, uh, you know, I guess, culturally Jewish people. But being a practicing Jew, like, people who are religious about it, they are very difficult. I’ve had a hard time connecting with them in that way.”

 

[lpetrich]

Olivia Nuzzi on Twitter: "Madison Cawthorn compares himself to “a Harry Potter or a Gandalf.” He says there’s “no limitations” on your power as a member of congress — “aside from what the Supreme Court will allow you to do.” (links)" / Twitter

During an interview with the columnist John Solomon (famous for spreading Ukrainian-themed conspiracy theories ahead of the first Trump impeachment), Cawthorn described his new station in magical terms. "You think of a Harry Potter or a Gandalf in one of these great works of fiction," he said. "They're handed a wand. And you as the viewer, you don't exactly know what they can do with that wand, but you know it holds incredible power. That's a lot what it's like coming into Congress, because there's really no limitations onto what you can and cannot do in Congress. Aside from what the Supreme Court will allow you to do."

Cute.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Olivia Nuzzi on Twitter: "Madison Cawthorn compares himself to “a Harry Potter or a Gandalf.” He says there’s “no limitations” on your power as a member of congress — “aside from what the Supreme Court will allow you to do.” (links)" / Twitter

During an interview with the columnist John Solomon (famous for spreading Ukrainian-themed conspiracy theories ahead of the first Trump impeachment), Cawthorn described his new station in magical terms. "You think of a Harry Potter or a Gandalf in one of these great works of fiction," he said. "They're handed a wand. And you as the viewer, you don't exactly know what they can do with that wand, but you know it holds incredible power. That's a lot what it's like coming into Congress, because there's really no limitations onto what you can and cannot do in Congress. Aside from what the Supreme Court will allow you to do."

Cute.

The evil wizards had wands too.

 

[Angry Floof]

Olivia Nuzzi on Twitter: "Madison Cawthorn compares himself to “a Harry Potter or a Gandalf.” He says there’s “no limitations” on your power as a member of congress — “aside from what the Supreme Court will allow you to do.” (links)" / Twitter

During an interview with the columnist John Solomon (famous for spreading Ukrainian-themed conspiracy theories ahead of the first Trump impeachment), Cawthorn described his new station in magical terms. "You think of a Harry Potter or a Gandalf in one of these great works of fiction," he said. "They're handed a wand. And you as the viewer, you don't exactly know what they can do with that wand, but you know it holds incredible power. That's a lot what it's like coming into Congress, because there's really no limitations onto what you can and cannot do in Congress. Aside from what the Supreme Court will allow you to do."

Cute.

That's a shitload of dumb white people scandal waiting to happen.

 

[blastula]

Cawthorn is up and coming Trumpist, following in all his worst footsteps. He's a serial sexual harasser and a dirty liar.

“Danger Warning”: Women Say Madison Cawthorn Harassed Them In College - Buzzfeed News

The making of Madison Cawthorn: How falsehoods helped propel the career of a new pro-Trump star of the far right - Wapo

He even lies about how he ended up in a wheelchair.

 

[southernhybrid]

I've read about all of his lies. He's Trump's mini me.

 

[lpetrich]

That WaPo article is fun: How the career of Rep. Madison Cawthorn, a new star of the pro-Trump right, has relied on falsehoods - The Washington Post - "Cawthorn has emerged as one of the most visible figures among newly arrived House Republicans, who have promoted baseless assertions and pushed a radicalized ideology that has become a driving force in the GOP"

As part of a speech in the chapel of the conservative Xian college that he went to,

Cawthorn said a close friend had crashed the car in which he was a passenger and fled the scene, leaving him to die “in a fiery tomb.” Cawthorn was “declared dead,” he said in the 2017 speech at Patrick Henry College. He said he told doctors that he expected to recover and that he would “be at the Naval Academy by Christmas.”

Key parts of Cawthorn’s talk, however, were not true. The friend, Bradley Ledford, who has not previously spoken publicly about the chapel speech, said in an interview that Cawthorn’s account was false and that he pulled Cawthorn from the wreckage. An accident report obtained by The Washington Post said Cawthorn was “incapacitated,” not that he was declared dead. Cawthorn himself said in a lawsuit deposition, first reported by the news outlet AVL Watchdog, that he had been rejected by the Naval Academy before the crash.

He soon dropped out, with mostly D's.

When he ran for Congress last year, he repeated his false claim about the accident derailing his plans to go to the Naval Academy. At 25, he is one of the youngest people ever elected to the US Congress, and he is the youngest one in the current Congress, the "baby of the House". AOC was the previous one.

But AOC did well in college, getting "cum laude" (with praise) recommendation. That put her in the top 1/3 of her Boston University graduating class. There were some higher awards that she didn't get. Those were "magna cum laude" (with great praise), for the top 1/6, and "summa cum laude" (with top praise), for the top 100. But even then, she could not have done as well with mostly D's.

He promptly used his newfound fame to push baseless allegations about voting fraud on Twitter in a video viewed 4 million times, which President Donald Trump retweeted, saying, “Thank you Madison!” Then Cawthorn spoke at the Jan. 6 rally where a mob was incited to storm the U.S. Capitol, again alleging fraud and extolling the crowd’s courage in comparison with the “cowards” in Congress. He returned to the Capitol, where he falsely claimed that insurrectionists had been “paid by the Democratic machine.”

So the "Democratic machine" paid several hundred Trumpies to lynch them? These "false flag" conspiracy theories are laughable. They require a logistical nightmare that stretches credulity. Like recruiting large numbers of people who had been Trumpies for months and years.

 

[blastula]

There were the below stories in August last year that covered some of the above. Buzzfeed has additional accusers and Wapo has additional lies.

Candidate’s claim creates false impression - AVL Watchdog

Rising Republican star faces accusations from women | WORLD News Group

 

[lpetrich]

But an examination by The Post of how he ascended so quickly shows how even one of the most neophyte elected Republicans is adopting the Trump playbook, making false statements about his background, issuing baseless allegations about voter fraud and demonizing his political opponents.

Cawthorn won his campaign with a brief résumé that included working at a Chick-fil-A, a part-time role in a congressional office, the single semester of college and fledgling work as a real estate investor. He was boosted by a last-minute $500,000 blitz by a political action committee that trashed his primary opponent as a “Never Trumper,” which the opponent said was false. Cawthorn’s campaign website said Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who is Black, wanted to “ruin” White males running for office, an assertion Booker denounced as “rank racism.”

So working at a Chick-fil-A is his answer to AOC's working as a bartender. The college he went to was Patrick Henry College, a Religious Right sort of place.

He called his primary-election opponent, real-estate agent Lynda Bennett, a "Never Trumper". She claimed that she was mocking Never Trumpers and that her mockery was quoted out of context. Like Rush Limbaugh's "I'm a Nazi", where his insults of others were made to seem like his self-description.

She called it a "lie" and she blamed "Madison Cawthorn’s DC friends."

Michael Biundo, a spokesman for Protect Freedom, said in an interview that he believed the committee’s advertising “played a big role in the race.” He said the committee was aware that an audio clip had been released in which Bennett said she was not a Never Trumper but nonetheless decided to air that charge.

“We stand by what we put out there,” he said.

So they stand by what was effectively a lie that they told?

 

[lpetrich]

With the committee’s help, Cawthorn beat Bennett by 31 points. He vowed to be the most pro-Trump member of Congress, and the president soon backed him effusively, saying he’s “a terrific young man. … He’s going to be one of the greats.”

That's spectacular news: Trump praising someone other than himself.

Back to his campaign. Not long after some fellow students claimed that he was a sexual predator,

Cawthorn, meanwhile, traveled to the Texas border on July 30 and, echoing the views of a radicalized, far-right ideology, alleged that there was “a large group of cartels, kidnapping our American children and then taking them to sell them on a slave market, a sex slave market.” He said that “tens of thousands of our children” were taken in what he called “one of the greatest atrocities I can imagine,” blaming the media for failing to focus on the matter.

There’s no evidence that cartels have kidnapped large numbers of U.S. children and sold them on a slave market.

Seems like AOC going to a Texas detention camp shortly before her first primary election.

He won by 12 points against his opponent, Moe Davis, who said that he "has got to be the least qualified member of Congress."

Cawthorn became one of the most loyal defenders of Trump, who claimed falsely that the 2020 election had been stolen from him. In a six-minute video posted to Twitter on Dec. 31, Cawthorn said, “My first act as a member of Congress will be to object to the electoral college certification of the 2020 election.”

...
“Voter fraud is common in America. Those who tell you otherwise are lying,” Cawthorn said in the video.

Cawthorn alleged that a number of states had violated the Constitution and their own laws. Cawthorn said “ballots were shoved into duffel bags and left in parks and gas stations.” He said Nevada “allowed dead people and out-of-state voters to flood the electoral system,” a baseless assertion. He said mail-in ballots “are wildly susceptible to fraud.”

“Fact-check that,” Cawthorn said, adding, “Do not let your vote be canceled by these bastards.”

Not surprisingly, then-President Trump *loved* his claims.

Cawthorn was sworn in on Jan. 3 and he amped up his rhetoric, tweeting the following day that “the future of this Republic hinges on the actions of a solitary few. … It’s time to fight.” He was invited to speak at the Jan. 6 rally and derided members of both parties.

“The Democrats, with all the fraud they have done in this election, the Republicans, hiding and not fighting, they are trying to silence your voice,” Cawthorn said, castigating members of his own party who “have no backbone” and deriding “the cowards of Washington, D.C., that I serve with.”

He urged the crowd to be part of a new Republican Party “that will go and fight. … Make your voice heard, because, do we love Donald Trump? But my friends, we’re not just doing this for Donald Trump, we are doing this for the Constitution. Our Constitution was violated.”

He then went to the Capitol and he hid from the mob that he had earlier encouraged to fight. He called into Charlie Kirk's radio show and said

“I believe this was agitators strategically placed inside of this group,” Cawthorn said. “You can call them ‘antifa,’ you can call them people paid by the Democratic machine, but to make the Trump campaign, the Trump movement, look bad and to make this look like it was a violent outrage when really the battle is being fought by people like myself and other great patriots who were standing up against the establishment, standing up against this tyranny in our country.” He said the storming of the Capitol was “disgusting, impermissible.”

Except that there is no evidence for such left-wingers in the mob. None of those arrested have any such far-left connections -- they are all Trumpies.

He later said “If I could go back, I wouldn’t have changed any words that I did say, but I probably would have added some lines. I probably would have encouraged more peace.”

He also claimed that he had not promoted anything about allegedly fraudulent voting machines or “U-Hauls being backed up with tons of ballots and they were fraudulently marked. I couldn’t have personally proved that … so I definitely didn’t try and feed into that narrative.”

 

[lpetrich]

His campaign endorser, former sheriff George Erwin Jr., now regrets his endorsement of MC.

Erwin went on Facebook after the Capitol riot and wrote: “I apologize to all of my law enforcement friends, other politicians, family and friends — I was wrong, I misled you. When I saw [Cawthorn’s] speech to the crowd in Washington I thought this is not good. … Your words can incite or calm. I saw no calming words and people died and were injured.”

Erwin confirmed that he wrote the post and expressed profound remorse. “I was filled with hope for him,” Erwin said. “And that hope was dashed and it was crushed. And that’s on me. That’s why I had to apologize to folks.”

His Congressional committee assignments are rather curious.

For someone who got mostly D's in college, he got into the Education & Labor Committee.

For someone who was rejected by the Naval Academy, he got into the Veterans Affairs Committee.

 

[blastula]

N.C. Republicans censured their senior senator for voting against Trump. But they are silent on Rep. Madison Cawthorn. - Wapo

North Carolina’s Republican Party acted quickly last month to censure one of its most senior members, Sen. Richard Burr, for voting to convict President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial. Burr’s vote was “shocking and disappointing,” said Michael Whatley, chairman of the state party.

But the state GOP has shown no interest in exploring a similar action against one of its youngest elected leaders, Rep. Madison Cawthorn, a pro-Trump freshman who is accused by a number of women of sexual harassment and has a record of making false statements and baseless claims.

“I don’t want to talk about that on the record,” Whatley said twice in a brief phone conversation when asked about Cawthorn.

Because the GQP is now the party of pro-sexual harassment and pro-pathological lying (by other Republicans).

But some Republican voters aren't on board.

Petree said via email that she hopes members of both political parties will act beyond reproach. “I hope that Rep. Cawthorn’s patterns of sexism, inappropriate behavior, and overall lack of integrity will no longer be tolerated or swept under the rug,” she wrote. “We are & can do better than Rep. Cawthorn. I specifically hope those from my hometown (Asheville, NC) and fellow conservatives will see his true character.”

George Erwin, a former sheriff of Henderson County who lined up a number of key endorsements for Cawthorn but has since become disillusioned with him, said he has heard a number of Republicans privately express concerns but said they won’t go public.

“I cannot speak for the GOP, but many I have talked to are concerned and feel that all the attention on Cuomo by Republicans and conservative publications, why not Cawthorn?” Erwin said. “They feel that it is hypocritical and that regardless of your party, if someone is a sexual predator, justice needs to prevail. However, if someone is innocent, that, too, should come to light.”

Chuck McGrady, a Republican who was a state representative in part of Cawthorn’s district until last year, said he finds Cawthorn to be “embarrassing.” But he said Republican leaders are not likely to criticize Cawthorn because that would lead to questions about loyalty to Trump.
Cawthorn is “just mimicking Trump in how he approaches things,” McGrady said. “Step away from the cult of personality and then you get criticized. There seems to be very little in the way of accountability.”

Cawthorn is such a weenie.

“Do you see that the political Democrats, socialist operatives at places like CNN and MSNBC and others are trying to use this old story to try to give cover to Governor ‘covid’ Cuomo?” Newsmax’s Chris Salcedo asked Cawthorn.

“Oh, absolutely,” Cawthorn responded, referring to “allegations of his own that are coming out. And you know what? I believe that everyone’s innocent until proven guilty, but it just makes so much sense that they’re going to start attacking a Republican because . . . they’re unable to defend their own governor in New York.”

 

[Worldtraveller]

N.C. Republicans censured their senior senator for voting against Trump. But they are silent on Rep. Madison Cawthorn. - Wapo



Because the GQP is now the party of pro-sexual harassment and pro-pathological lying (by other Republicans).

But some Republican voters aren't on board.



Cawthorn is such a weenie.

“Do you see that the political Democrats, socialist operatives at places like CNN and MSNBC and others are trying to use this old story to try to give cover to Governor ‘covid’ Cuomo?” Newsmax’s Chris Salcedo asked Cawthorn.

“Oh, absolutely,” Cawthorn responded, referring to “allegations of his own that are coming out. And you know what? I believe that everyone’s innocent until proven guilty, but it just makes so much sense that they’re going to start attacking a Republican because . . . they’re unable to defend their own governor in New York.”

The gqp has it's priorities....

 

[lpetrich]

The Recount on Twitter: "Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC): "You want my guns, I know it, we all know it. Well, Mr. Speaker, you can come and take them." (link)" / Twitter
Has some video of him saying that on the House floor.

Then
Ted Lieu on Twitter: "Dear @RepCawthorn: We don’t want your guns. We just don’t want you to bring them on the House Floor.

I have 2 Air Force marksmanship ribbons. You lied about getting into the Naval Academy. Stop your tough guy act and promoting conflict. We’ve had enough violence in the Capitol." / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

I am rather remiss on posting on this freaky Congressman. He's with Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene in kookiness.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn slams NC district's mask mandate as 'psychological child abuse

A congressman dropped in on a North Carolina school board meeting — and slammed the district's COVID-19 mask mandate.

"Forcing our children to wear a mask is nothing short of psychological child abuse, period," U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, a Republican, told Buncombe County Schools officials on Thursday. "Their social skills are stunted."

...
"I've witnessed swampy back-door tactics from corrupt bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., but what you have done here today puts that all to shame," Cawthorn said in a video of the meeting posted to YouTube.

...
The Western North Carolina congressman has criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, and said during a radio interview that an effort to spread the word about vaccines might be used to "go door to door to take your guns. They could then go door to door to take your Bibles," The Charlotte Observer reported.

NC Rep. Cawthorn warns of ‘bloodshed’ to follow Jan. 6 riot. | Charlotte Observer

Cawthorn, a freshman representing the state’s 11th district in western North Carolina, predicted that “bloodshed” would follow another “stolen” presidential election

He called the arrested Capitol rioters “political prisoners” and spoke of efforts to “try and bust them out,” according to video clips from a Democratic congressional staffer and news reports. (There is no evidence that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former president Donald Trump, and the courts have thrown out more than 50 lawsuits questioning the integrity of the election.)

Asked about a return to Washington following a question about the Jan. 6 riot, the ardent Trump supporter told supporters: “We are actively working on that one.”

Though the remarks align with Cawthorn’s tendency to promote baseless conspiracy theories, particularly surrounding President Joe Biden’s election, the speech was “inflammatory, even for Madison Cawthorn — somebody whose career has been defined by inflammatory statements,” said Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University.

Luke Ball, a spokesman for Cawthorn, said in a statement to the Washington Post that the lawmaker’s remarks Sunday were “in no way supporting or advocating for any form of violence.”

Madison Cawthorn: behold the rotten fruit of extreme Republican gerrymandering | David Daley | The Guardian

"Without gerrymandering, Cawthorn would just be another loudmouth Twitter troll. With it, he’s issuing a blood-soaked call to arms"

The congressman from North Carolina brandished a gun as he addressed a Macon county Republican event last weekend. “We all need to be storing up some ammunition,” Madison Cawthorn warned the crowd, as he embraced the big lie about the 2020 presidential race and insisted that “we all know it was a stolen election”.

Then, chillingly, Cawthorn conjured a second civil war being fought over his fraudulent claims. “If our election systems continue to be rigged and continue to be stolen, then it’s going to lead to one place,” Cawthorn said, “and that’s bloodshed … As much as I am willing to defend our liberty at all costs, there’s nothing I would dread doing more than having to pick up arms against a fellow American.”

...
But there’s a simpler reason that Cawthorn can spew such an abhorrent incitement to violence. His extremism was created intentionally by aggressive partisan gerrymandering. Cawthorn and many of the other demagogues and conspiracy theorists who have hijacked the Republican party owe their seats to the noncompetitive districts Republicans drew themselves a decade ago. Without gerrymandering, Cawthorn would just be another loudmouth Twitter troll pumped full of Newsmax nuttiness. With it, he’s issuing a call to arms as a prominent member of an elite Washington club of 435.

The road to political power for Cawthorn, who has been accused of multiple instances of inappropriate sexual behavior and even lying about the car wreck that left him paralyzed, began not long after the 2010 elections. He has denied those allegations. That year, Republicans spent more than $1m on a dark-money, negative-ad driven effort to win control of North Carolina’s house and senate just in time to dominate redistricting. When they won, a determined Republican party focused on drawing a congressional map that would turn this moderate state inside-out – producing 10 reliable Republican seats and just three Democratic districts.

 

[untermensche]

His campaign endorser, former sheriff George Erwin Jr., now regrets his endorsement of MC.

Erwin went on Facebook after the Capitol riot and wrote: “I apologize to all of my law enforcement friends, other politicians, family and friends — I was wrong, I misled you. When I saw [Cawthorn’s] speech to the crowd in Washington I thought this is not good. … Your words can incite or calm. I saw no calming words and people died and were injured.”

Erwin confirmed that he wrote the post and expressed profound remorse. “I was filled with hope for him,” Erwin said. “And that hope was dashed and it was crushed. And that’s on me. That’s why I had to apologize to folks.”

His Congressional committee assignments are rather curious.

For someone who got mostly D's in college, he got into the Education & Labor Committee.

For someone who was rejected by the Naval Academy, he got into the Veterans Affairs Committee.

To be fair being rejected by any of the service academies is not a big deal. It is very competitive.

But lying about it shows this man's character.

Or rather lack of it.

 

[lpetrich]

Madison Cawthorn Encourages Americans To 'Raise Monsters'

The right-wing congressman appeared in a clip shared by activist group Right Wing Watch, where he railed against parents who “de-masculate young men” because “they don’t want people who are going to stand up.” Cawthorn continued, “All you moms here — the ones who I said are the most vicious in our movement — if you are raising a young man, please raise them to be a monster.”

noting
Right Wing Watch on Twitter: "Complaining that "our culture today is trying to completely demasculate all the young men," Rep. Madison Cawthorn issues a plea to parents: "If you are raising a young man, please raise them to be a monster." (vid link)" / Twitter
Back to the article.

Cawthorn’s gross advice was met with some whistles and cheers, as he promotes outdated ideas to foster and grow toxic masculinity. Because for men like Madison Cawthorn, being brutish, controlling, and monstrous is analogous with being a man. Naturally, Cawthorn himself embraces these ideals.

When he’s not visiting Hitler’s vacation retreat, he has a pattern of sexually harassing women.

...
And being a classic overachiever, Cawthorn has displayed monstrous behavior throughout his short tenure in congress. He voted against renewing the Violence Against Women Act, and referred to the Capitol riot insurrectionists as “political hostages.