keyed up

Madison Cawthorn’s mission to destroy his career makes significant progress

Madison Cawthorn and Kevin McCarthy
Rep. Madison Cawthorn and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Photo: Gage Skidmore, via CC BY-SA 2.0/YouTube)

North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn seems to be becoming something of a major embarrassment to the Republican Party. House minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) went so far as to warn that Cawthorn, 26, has “got to turn himself around” after the NC lawmaker made allegations last week about being invited to orgies in Washington DC.

Last week, Cawthorn was a guest on the Warrior Poet Society podcast. He was asked if the TV drama House of Cards was more like a documentary than a fictionalized account of life in DC.

​​“I look at all these people, a lot of them that I’ve looked up to through my life, I’ve always paid attention to politics,” Cawthorn said. “Then 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.’

“I’m like, ‘What did you just ask me to come to?’” Cawthorn continued. “And then you realize they are asking you to come to an orgy.”

Cawthorn also said he’d seen people who’d publicly advocated fighting drug addiction take a “key bump” of cocaine in front of him.

As Cawthorn spoke of people he’d “looked up to”, many took his comments to implicate fellow Republicans.

Related: Madison Cawthorn was caught doing WHAT during a Zoom meeting?!

Unease at the comments amongst fellow GOP lawmakers emerged at a House Republican Conference meeting on Tuesday, according to a reporter with Politico. Some said they simply did not believe the comments or that Cawthorn must provide evidence when making such claims.

This prompted McCarthy to say he would speak with Cawthorn.

Yesterday, speaking to reporters following his morning talk with Cawthorn, McCarthy said the young Rep. had been unable to back up his allegations with any evidence.

Specifically, relating to the cocaine claim, McCarthy says Cawthorn, “thinks he saw maybe a staffer in the parking garage from 100 yards away.”

“This is unacceptable. There’s no evidence to this,” McCarthy said. “That’s not becoming of a congressman. He did not tell the truth.”

“He’s got to turn himself around. I just told him he’s lost my trust, and he’s going to have to earn it back. I laid out everything I find that’s unbecoming. … He’s got a lot of members upset. You can’t just make statements out there.”

Yesterday evening it emerged that North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis was now throwing his support behind State Senator Chuck Edwards, a primary opponent of Cawthorn who is now making a run for US Congress.

“It comes down to focus on the district, producing results for the district, and in my opinion, Mr Cawthorn hasn’t demonstrated much in the way of results over the last 18 months,” Tillis told CNN.

Related: Rep. Madison Cawthorn charged with misdemeanor, risks facing jail time

This is far from being the first controversy Cawthorn has been involved in. Earlier this month, it emerged he had been charged—for a second time in his life— for driving with a revoked license. He faces a court hearings next month on this. Footage also emerged of him calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “thug.”

Cawthorn has not made any comment about his meeting with Kevin McCarthy.

Plenty more have had something to say on social media.

Even the Merriam Webster Dictionary became involved.

Don't forget to share:

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated