January 1, Here Are All of the Controversies Surrounding Cawthorn

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY…
1945: World War II – German ship “Cap Arcona” laden with prisoners sunk by Royal Air Force in East Sea, 5,800 killed – one of largest maritime losses of life.

Embattled Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) has been the center of a lot of controversies, despite his young political career.

Here is a look at all of the 26-year-old freshman lawmaker’s controversies since he was elected in November 2020.

March 9, 2021: Charged for driving with a suspended license

North Carolina authorities charged Cawthorn with driving with a revoked license after being pulled over by highway patrol.

According to The Hill, Cawthorn was previously charged with driving with a revoked license in 2017.

Feb. 1, 2022: Files lawsuit over efforts to disqualify his bid for reelection

Cawthorn filed a federal lawsuit against 11 members of the North Carolina State Board of Elections over their attempt to disqualify him from reelection due to his involvement in the Stop the Steal rally that took place on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Running for office is not only a great privilege, it is a right protected under the Constitution,” Cawthorn said in a statement. “I love this country and have never engaged in, or would ever engage in, an insurrection against the United States.”

Feb. 2, 2022: Calls Biden an “inept, geriatric despot”

“Madam Speaker, the sons and daughters of America are not foot soldiers for your party’s inept, geriatric despot,” Cawthorn said in a speech on the Houses floor.

“They are not expendable pawns to be dispatched at the whims of an idiot, tossed carelessly around the world to Godforsaken caves and bloody sandboxes. They are Americans, worthy of honor and dignity. The only salute from them Joe Biden deserves involves one finger.”

March 2022: Calls Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a ‘thug‘

“Remember that Zelensky is a thug,” Cawthorn said in an undated recording obtained and published by a North Carolina station WRAL. “Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and is incredibly evil and has been pushing woke ideologies.”

March 28, 2022: Claims about orgies in D.C.

Cawthorn upset his peers in the GOP after he appeared on a podcast and claimed that lawmakers had invited him to an orgy.

“All of the sudden you get invited to, ‘Well, hey, we’re going to have kind of a sexual get-together at one of our homes. You should come.’ … You realize they are asking you to come to an orgy,” Cawthorn said.

April 12, 2022: Secretly recorded phone calls

A former staff member accused Cawthorn’s office of having “more liquor bottles than they do water bottles” in a secretly recorded phone call with the head of an anti-Cawthorn PAC.

April 22, 2022: Leaked photos show him wearing lingerie

Politico published undated photos showing Cawthorn wearing women’s lingerie at what appeared to be a party.

The North Carolina Republican shrugged off the photos.

“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 said. 

“They’re running out of things to throw at me.”

April 26, 2022: Caught with loaded gun at TSA checkpoint

Cawthorn was cited late last month after TSA agents found a loaded gun at a checkpoint at a North Carolina airport.

April 27, 2022: Calls for investigation over allegations of insider trading

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) called on the House Ethics Committee to investigate allegations that Cawthorn violated insider trading laws by supporting the “Let’s Go Brandon” cryptocurrency.

“Insider trading by a member of Congress is a serious betrayal of their oath, and Congressman Cawthorn owes North Carolinians an explanation. There needs to be a thorough and bipartisan inquiry into the matter by the House Ethics Committee,” Tillis wrote on Twitter.

April 27, 2022: Claims he’s the victim of a ‘coordinated drip campaign’

In the wake of the onslaught of controversies, Cawthorn accused the “establishment” of launching a “coordinated drip campaign” against him.

“They’re going to drop an attack article every one or two days just to try and kill us with a death by 1,000 cuts, and that is really their main strategy,” Cawthorn said in a video posted to his Instagram account.

The lawmaker said there’s a “coordinated attack” against many first-term members of Congress who “are hardcore conservatives going up for reelection across the country.”

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Timeline of Madison Cawthorn controversies