tree hater

Bizarre video of Madison Cawthorn assaulting a tree circulates amid sexual misconduct allegations

A truly bizarre video of newly elected Rep. Madison Cawthorn violently punching a tree is circulating on social media and we have so many questions.

The 19-second clip started making the rounds on Twitter over the weekend. It shows Cawthorn wearing tactical gloves and punching the bark off of what appears to be a rotting tree in the middle of the woods.

It’s unclear who filmed the video, when, where, or why, but it hit the internet after a particularly bad week in the press for the 25-year-old congressman from North Carolina.

First, Buzzfeed published a damning report in which more than 30 of Cawthorn’s former friends, classmates, and acquaintances accused him of sexual harassment, misconduct, and other inappropriate behavior.

The accusations included the homophobic lawmaker calling women derogatory names, interrogating them about their sex lives, forcing them to sit in his lap, grabbing and kissing them without their consent, and luring them into his Dodge Challenger, locking the doors, and taking them on “fun drives” to the middle of nowhere.

Then the Washington Post ran a story claiming he lied about that 2014 car crash that left him partially paralyzed.

Here’s what folx on Twitter are saying about the whole thing…

Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.

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