Madison Cawthorn Suffers A Saturday Sad After Lingerie Photo Leak

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Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) appears to be attempting to maintain an about-face after photos were released showing him in lingerie despite his familiarly right-wing opposition to upholding the rights of LGBTQ people. As Cawthorn put it on Twitter, “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? They’re running out of things to throw at me…”. Well, actually they’re not “running out of things” to raise concerns over in relation to Cawthorn’s position of power, it’s just that it’s ridiculous for an anti-LGBTQ, pro-“family values” Republican to be photographed wearing women’s undergarments and then brush it off. Also: Cawthorn is 26 years old, and (although obviously this standard isn’t insurmountable) the legal drinking age in the United States is 21. Cawthorn is drinking in one of the photos, so it seems unlikely that they were from that long ago.

Cawthorn has been involved in a variety of serious scandals since assuming his current position. Among other examples, his ties to the Capitol riot have been under scrutiny to the point that interests including a group called Free Speech for People recently filed a challenge to Cawthorn’s eligibility for re-election based on provisions of the 14th Amendment that restrict individuals from running for office if they participated in insurrection or provided certain support to enemies of the United States. A federal judge ruled against allowing that challenge to continue, but the interests behind it appealed. This week, a high-profile hearing took place regarding a challenge to the eligibility for re-election of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), whose ability to legally run for re-election had been challenged on similar grounds. Under oath, Greene said she didn’t “recall” whether she’d pushed the imposition of martial law in conversations with then-President Trump. Conjecturally, her non-committal answer seems more suspicious than an outright denial.

In North Carolina, Cawthorn does not have relatively consistent support among GOP leaders for his re-election campaign. Those supporting Cawthorn’s potential exit from Congress even include one of his home state’s Republican Senators, Thom Tillis, who’s backing North Carolina GOP state Sen. Chuck Edwards in his primary bid against Cawthorn. Edwards also enjoys the support of North Carolina state Senate leader Sen. Phil Berger (R) and state House speaker Rep. Tim Moore (R) — both the top Republicans in the state legislature in North Carolina. As Tillis explained his perspective, “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.” Cawthorn, among other examples, has referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “thug,” was criminally charged with driving with a revoked license, said “bloodshed” was inevitable if U.S. elections continue to be rigged (which they’re not), and the list goes on. He’s a clown.