The Retrumplican poster boy

by | Jan 15, 2021 | Editor's Blog | 12 comments

Give those Republicans in the mountains credit; they sure know how to pick ‘em. Madison Cawthorn is making a spectacle of himself as he wheels into Congress packing a gun and shooting off his mouth. He succeeds Mark Meadows who became Trump’s chief of staff. Meadows believes the world is only 6,000 years old and that humans and dinosaurs co-existed. To borrow an expression from a friend, “He’s so slow, you can look in his eyes and watch the wheels turn.” Cawthorn adds continuity.

Cawthorn is becoming the poster boy of the new Retrumplican Party. He’s not only the youngest Member of Congress, he’s the least qualified. He’s there because he won a primary in a special election in one of the most conservative districts in the state. He never graduated from college and has never held a job with a position of responsibility. He’s shown he can spew talking points designed to create outrage, but he has little grip on the role of Congress or the policies he promotes. 

Cawthorn spent the weeks before the assault on the Capitol firing up the base and encouraging insurrection. At one rally, he told people they should call their Representatives and “lightly threaten” them to intimidate them into voting to overturn the election. He spoke at the rally before the riot, telling people, “This crowd has some fight in it. The Democrats, with all the fraud they have done in this election, the Republicans hiding and not fighting, they are trying to silence your voice. Make no mistake about it, they do not want you to be heard.” Of course, he doesn’t believe his words incited anyone to violence. 

Cawthorn also has little understanding of the policies he claims to support. He spent much of the election railing against socialism. Then, when Twitter kicked Trump off the platform, he demanded the government force a private company to give voice to a man who violated the company’s terms of service. In other words, the government should interfere with the free market. 

Cawthorn has also called for nationalization of elections. Instead of allowing the states to administer elections, he wants federal standards and oversight to provide consistency. Again, that’s a big government point of view. He might even get some liberals to sign on, as long as the federal government forces states to make voting easier instead of more difficult. 

Cawthorn also admitted that he had a gun in the Capitol at the time of the assault. Firearms are not allowed in the House or Senate Chambers. His admission, along with other Republicans insisting they will be armed while Congress is in session, led to metal detectors for Members of Congress as they enter the Capitol. Much of his campaign imagery included Cawthorn with big guns. 

Cawthorn is the poster boy of the new Retrumplican Party. He’s a media creation, not a political one. He has little experience, expertise, or knowledge but he does have a lot of guns and a telegenic smile. He’s proud to wear his ignorance on his sleeve in a party where knowing little is a badge of honor. 

12 Comments

  1. Mad Caw disease sufferers, take heart

    Yes, it’s true that North Carolina’s 11th congressional district is suffering from a severe bout with Mad Caw disease, but it should disappear after a couple years. Not a “miraculous” disappearance a la Trump and Covid-19, but a genuine eradication. How? Well, the NCGA could draw the new maps in a fashion that diminishes the loose-cannon congressboy’s re-election chances, such as by double-bunking him with McHenry. Or legal troubles from his sexual predation, insurrection, or any number of other risky ventures, may consume him. Or Democrats might even find a strong candidate to run in his district. But the kid clearly is not as smart as he thinks, has very limited political savvy, and likely will continue to distinguish himself negatively. His self-destruction and self-elimination appear to be well underway.

  2. S Smith

    As a native North Carolinian I am in agreement with all of you. HOWEVER—you allowed this debacle to occur in the 11th district ever since Mark Meadows became your representative. It is astounding that this annointed poster child Cawthorne won. Henderson county has become a reliable bastion of fringe conservatism thanks to Franklin Graham, Trump, and all his minions . It is up yo YOU to get involved and change the political landscape. You got what you deserved

  3. Mae Myers

    For anyone who does Twitter there is an excellent thread that has many articles and even more startling information about this young fascist. His phony company is named SPQR, LLC which is it’s own white supremacy group, but there is even more…

    Thread on (David) *Madison Cawthorn : https://twitter.com/Yedois/status/1298796953787138048?s=19

  4. Rick Gunter

    I wrote editorials for the Asheville Citizen-Time for more than a decade in the 1970s and 1980s. There are many smart people in that part of the state. But clearly the level of education and savvy has declined to such an extent that the district would elect this moron to the U.S. House. The GOP ascendancy in my native state of North Carolina breaks my heart, frankly. What has happened there and to much of the country where some 74 million people would vote to re=elect Trump? Our democracy is on the ropes and will still be after Trump is mercifully gone. The climate that gave rise to him is still with us. God help us.

  5. NAWilson

    It’s difficult to think of an individual more unqualified to hold public office than Cawthorn. The facts are stated by the posters above, and none of them are an exaggeration. He’s thrashing around now, since his “Dear Leader” is leaving office in a few days. He’ll have no one to be a role model for him and it remains to be seen what his next moves will be. Chances are we aren’t going to like them.

  6. Carl Raymond

    We need to come together and see that this kid is sent home. He needs to be either investigated for his part in the crime that was committed at the congressional building on the sixth of January. Or resign for his juvenile actions before and after the assault on the capital. Take a minute and let him know he is not wanted as our Representative in DC.

  7. Mark Pirolo

    This pathetic excuse for an elected official is the frat boy face of evil.

  8. Lan Sluder

    The 11th District includes Asheville and Buncombe County, which voted heavily AGAINST Madison Cawthorn. It was Henderson County and the far western counties that got this poor boy into Congress.

    Cawthorn has never held a regular job. The only real money he has ever made was from a lawsuit for his accident in Florida. He lasted only about a semester in college, knows nothing about American history, and he has been accused of sexual misconduct. It is sad that this kind of person represents a beautiful part of North Carolina in Congress.

    As you noted, he told people to “lightly threaten” elected representatives so that they would vote to throw out the legitimate election results. According to a report in The New York Times, he also said people should say “… I’m coming after you. Madison Cawthorn’s coming after you. Everybody’s coming after you.” Then, at theTrump rally Jan. 6, he told the crowd that “the Republicans are hiding and not fighting” and “they are trying to silence your voice.”

    There is a movement here in the 11th District to try to get him removed from the House due to his role in inciting the rioting mob that took over the U.S. Capitol.

    • Shirley

      You know of what you speak…truth. Sad and scary. Law enforcement was behind him also, as well as fundamentalist churches. That area is my home and I am disgusted.

  9. Gen Burda

    I am embarrassed to have Maddie Boy represent my district and frightened to know so many of his supporters are in my county. These folks actually think he’s such a “fine young man” when actually he’s ignorant, a womanizer wannabe, (check out letters from young women in the college he attended for 1 semester before flunking out) and woefully undereducated and with no life’s experience to guide him.

  10. Linda Watt

    It is so embarrassing to be in his district. We thought nothing could be worse than Meadows….
    Note that not only did he not graduate from college, he dropped out of Patrick Henry College in his freshman year. He was also homeschooled through high school, so his exposure to outside ideas has been extremely limited. But he has an R after his name, which is all that counts outside Asheville and a couple of other spots in this district.

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