More Republicans Weigh In on Madison Cawthorn Controversies: 'Painful to Watch His Spiral'
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Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Madison Cawthorn
Controversial Republican lawmaker Madison Cawthorn's challengers — along with other political insiders — are weighing in on the many controversies surrounding the 24-year-old representative.
Some of those running against Cawthorn in his North Carolina primary race spoke to Politico as part of a sweeping new profile of the outspoken Republican, who became the youngest member of Congress when he was elected in 2020.
Cawthorn's fellow conservative Matthew Burril told the outlet it was "painful" to watch what he called a "spiral" — likely a reference to the many headlines that have focused on the young lawmaker in recent months.
"As a Christian," Burril told Politico, "it is to me very painful to watch his spiral."
Another Republican candidate running for the same seat — Bruce O'Connell – told the outlet he had originally voted for Cawthorn. "I voted for Madison originally, I donated to him originally, I like him — but he's … self-destructing," O'Connell said.
Others interviewed by Politico — which based its story on "more than 70 interviews with people who know Cawthorn, who have worked for him and against him, allies and enemies" — painted a similar picture.
In the past few months, Cawthorn has been the subject of headlines concerning his bringing a loaded gun to a Charlotte airport, his various driving infractions, and his past behaviors (including photos of him wearing lingerie that were published by Politico last month).
The controversies have not gone unnoticed by those in Cawthorn's own party.
Fellow North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis, for instance, recently called for a bi-partisan ethics investigation of Cawthorn following a report that he may have been involved in insider trading.
Cawthorn built his national profile on his personal backstory, which involves a devastating car crash that left him paralyzed from the waist down and requiring the use of a wheelchair.
But in the years since he took office, that personal history has often been overshadowed by Cawthorn's penchant for Trump-style antics — including a March appearance on a podcast, in which he suggested other, older lawmakers in Washington, D.C., were doing drugs and engaging in orgies.
That comment caused notable friction between Cawthorn and other members of the GOP, including House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, who said the young lawmaker had "lost [his] trust."
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One GOP consultant who knows Cawthorn told the outlet: "Politics is like a vice amplifier, where everybody has a need for affirmation, a need to be important, to be recognized. And then when you're a young man who has a terrible accident like that, and your identity is kind of stripped from you, all of that is amplified even more. I worry about him."
A spokesperson for Cawthorn did not immediately respond when asked for comment on Politico's story, but a recent tweet by the lawmaker preemptively called the story "a hit piece."
Politico noted that Cawthorn is currently leading in polls — though other outlets, including CNN, have reported that some in the GOP are rooting against him.
"It's kind of up to him to get his act together," one unnamed GOP lawmaker told CNN, adding: "But at some point in time, the conference is going to have to cut its losses. My hope is that North Carolina-11 will deal with it. But if they don't, my argument has always been: we should."
