He said the people who attacked the Capitol were pathetic, weak-minded thugs, and that what happened on the Hill that day was a despicable perversion of patriotism., And the worst part was theyre all waving these American flags and these MAGA flags, and you want to say, You dont represent me at all. Offsite Link. Even in late October, speaking with a reporter from the Hendersonville Lightning, Cawthorn sounded totally different from how he sounds today. The endorsements page on Cawthorns campaign website is a broken link. He wasnt. In the fall of 2016, he enrolled at Patrick Henry College, a school in Loudoun County, Va., with fewer than 400 students that exists to glorify God and prepare Christian men and women who will lead our nation and shape our culture. The Saturday of Thanksgiving, a few weeks after Trumps election, Cawthorn struck a pose in front of the U.S. Capitol. I was unhappy with the way the president treated the death of George Floyd, he said of Trump, according to the coverage of the debate in the Cherokee Scout, and the lack of empathy he showed after that death happened.. Before January 6, 25-year-old Representative Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) was known for being the youngest member of Congress, an ardent Trump supporter, and one of the few wheelchair users in . You either need to give up or you need to move on. That night, he said, he stayed up for more than four hours making a list of pros and cons of staying alive.. "He needs to get his act together. In interviews with outlets ranging from local newspapers to Jewish Insider to CNN, Cawthorn expressed regret. "Him and I have been through so much together," Ledford told the outlet. Michael Kruse is a senior staff writer at POLITICO and POLITICO Magazine. After working as a low-level staffer for former Rep. Mark Meadows . The enemy is entrenched and the hardest . On Jan. 3, 2021, he was sworn in. . She said he had talked a lot about his hope for miraculous advancements in spinal cord repair. "So I took my shirt off and wrapped it around his leg and then just kind of stayed with him until the paramedics got there.". I have to represent everybody now, so I shouldnt have done that, he said. It hurt very badly that he would say something as false as that, Ledford told the paper. Ledford said he quickly "recognized that Maddy [Cawthorn] was unconscious and [I] was realizing that the situation was getting worse and worse.". Four and a half years after Cawthorn contemplated suicide, he was running for Congress. The . His office did not respond to aMother Jonesrequest for comment.). commitment 2020 now in western north carolina a 24 year old named madison cawthorne defeated linda bennett for the republican nomination for us house district eleven. Madison Cawthorn ( Republican Party) was a member of the U.S. House, representing North Carolina's 11th Congressional District. He climbed out, landed on the concrete and immediately turned around to unbuckle Cawthorn, with whom he pleaded to wake up, he says. Now he's weeks away from leaving Washington. North Carolina Rep. Madison . He called the Ukrainian president a thug, he suggested Nancy Pelosi was an alcoholic (she doesnt drink), and the seemingly ceaseless gush of unsavory news has included allegations of insider trading, pictures of shuttered district offices, a leaked tranche of salacious images and videos, and ongoing proof in FEC filings that hes a prodigious fundraiser but a profligate spender as well. Erwin was in line to be Cawthorns district director until Cawthorn in the aftermath of his victory called Erwin a coward and a little bitch., Ive seen this through the years, but not to this degree, because people I think just dont have the trauma that he has., George Erwin, retired Henderson County sheriff, The disagreement began, Erwin said, when he wanted an older, more experienced woman to be hired for a position in the district office, and Cawthorn wanted a much younger woman instead. And that was before the pictures and videos started to make their way around social media and even into campaign ads. It makes people enemies of each other instead of saying we are Americans first and lets work towards the future., Cawthorn spoke at the 2020 virtual Republican National Convention, standing up from his wheelchair at the end of his address. | Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) announced on Wednesday that he and his wife, Cristina, are getting divorced less than eight months after getting hitched. The recovery is not complete, said David Rhode, a fellow Hendersonville native who knew Cawthorn pre-politics but now works for Wendy Nevarez, another one of Cawthorns current opponents. Rather than running to safety deep in the woods, Ledford said that hed pulled Cawthorn from the burning car, potentially saving his life. He was riding as a passenger in a BMW X3 SUV near Daytona Beach, Florida when his . He was pulled over going 87 in a 70 in Polk. Queen City News published the dashcam video on Friday. In 2014, a car accident shattered his ankles, pelvis, and back, leaving the 18-year-old Cawthorn paraplegic and suicidal. However, Bennett did not receive the required 30 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff and Cawthorn won the June runoff overwhelmingly. His campaign has more debt than cash on hand. Chief among them was Erwin, the sheriff who had helped Cawthorn from the start. Cawthorn posted the photo on social media shortly before his accident. Hes reckless, said Tim Moore, the North Carolina House speaker. Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Cawthorn told his supporters thatUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a thug and that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and is incredibly evil and has been pushing woke ideologies.. Amanda Greene for Politico Magazine, Think about it, what hes gone through, she continued, mentioning his accident, his candidacy in 2020 that took him in a little more than eight months from a no-name who had just gotten off a cruise to a primetime speaking slot at the RNC, the dizzying year and a half hes been in Congress, his quickly broken marriage. "I remember his leg was pretty badly cut from the accident and we were sitting on the side of the interstate," Ledford recalled. He assumed office on January 3, 2021. TSA via AP, Madison Cawthorn has fallen well short of the most basic standards western North Carolina expects from their representatives, said Tillis. Emboldened by Cawthorns miscues, misdeeds and array of indiscretions, seven Republican challengers have lined up to try to take him out in Tuesdays primary, party leaders have abandoned him, and other MAGA firebrands are keeping their distance what with the escalating storm of even just the past few months. It's us but for your ears. As for Cawthorns version of the car crash, that statement he made was false, Ledford told the Post. POLITICO Weekend delivers gripping reads, smart analysis and a bit of high-minded fun every Friday. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2023 demands. They describe him as a person whose ongoing physical pain and insecurities have made him unusually susceptible to the twisted incentives of a political environment and a Trump-led GOP that prizes perhaps above all else outrage and partisan attack. Mother Jones illustration; Brandon Bell/Getty. I voted for Madison originally, I donated to him originally, I like him but hes self-destructing, OConnell told me. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. In a 2017 speech, Cawthorn said that Ledford left him "to die in a fiery tomb," however, Ledford publicly disputed this in 2021 saying that he pulled Cawthorn from the wreck once he escaped the car. You shattered me completely, he said. Amanda Greene for Politico Magazine. Cawthorn, 26, rose to power in part because of his personal story. Gripping reads, smart analysis and a bit of high-minded fun. I miss everything too, Cawthorn shot back, unleashing one long, raw message, screens and screens of anguish and loss. It does more to add to the partisan divide rather than try to heal it and unite us all as Americans, Cawthorn said. Just one endorsement anyway matters the most. The night before, he said to my surprise, he and Wilson had gone out to dinner with Cawthorn. Politically he might already have lost. We're a nonprofit (so it's tax-deductible), and reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget. On any given day, hes an embarrassment, said Burr. Cawthorn was living with his parents in a house that had been renovated for his wheelchair. ), Cawthorn, pictured in a Navy sweater in 2013, said he had wanted to maybe be a Marine before his accident and, when in college, falsely suggested he had gotten into the Naval Academy. Neither he nor his spokesperson responded to The Washington Post. As a young adult I know I do., But his time on campus was a disaster. He drives a specially equipped car that has been linked to sexual misconduct accusations. Wake up determined to throat punch life, he said in one post. He liked cruises, too, and in 2019 he boarded one on which he played a big part in a risqu late-night game show called Quest. Can you give me, asked the attorney for Ledfords fathers company, a list of 10 things that you enjoyed doing before that you cant do now?, Yes, sir, said Cawthorn. Cawthorn has also claimed that he was accepted to Princeton and to an online program at Harvard, only to later confess that he hadnt been admitted to either. Do you want me to continue?. Cawthorn, ready or not, the following morning filed his first papers with the FEC. We concede that he does often get applause.. While Cawthorn had told his . At a campaign event at a gun store in Cherokee County on May 6, the driver of the SUV Cawthorn arrived in as well as a Cawthorn supporter with a pickup truck unsuccessfully attempted to block the view of POLITICO's photographer. Their car was said to have crashed into a concrete barrier while Cawthorn's feet were on the dashboard . Brad Ledford was about to head off to college. History Made. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, Madison Cawthorn was involved in a serious car accident in 2014 that left him paralyzed from the waist down, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). (Cawthorn stated in a February 2022 video that he owned at least some LGBCoin, though its unclear when exactly he acquired it. Cawthorn has said in mailers and text-message blasts that he has Trumps endorsement, but Trump has yet to put out a formal statement doing so, as he has for other candidates he supports. She asked me if I was a motivated person, and I responded yes, and then she said, Good, because this will be the hardest thing youve ever done, he remembered one saying. I cant ride horses. | We kept all politics local, he said. Its impossible for me to be around you because seeing you just makes me remember who Madison Cawthorn was, and I really miss being him., Cawthorn poses with his parents Priscilla and Roger in 2018, on the front porch of their home in Flat Rock. Cawthorn introduced his fiance to the public in atweet from October2020, describing Bayardelle as an anesthesiologist assistant and a CrossFit athlete. "On April 3rd of 2021, my life has once again changed. The first thing he did was contest the election of Joe Biden. 01:47 - Source: CNN. A former close friend of right-wing Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) told The Washington Post the lawmaker lied about a car wreck that partially paralyzed him. Hes got some deep issues that will probably never go away, said Chuck Archerd, a Republican who ran against him in 2020. Marrying Cristina Bayardelle, now Cristina Cawthorn is the greatest honor, privilege and adventure of my life," he added. The scope of Cawthorns troubles is broad, the implications transcending mere politics. And Cawthorn traveled, sometimes with his parents, sometimes with his cousin, sometimes with the woman he would marry, to Boston, to Cuba, to the Swiss Alps. He was sworn in just days before the riot at the Capitol. I cant climb anything. The video published by American Muckrakers PAC, according to UpdatesPlug, showed Rep. Madison Cawthorn naked in bed, with his wheelchair beside the bed, carrying out the sex act with [] Last March at Mar-a-Lago Trump cut a video with him offering my complete and total, as I like to say, endorsement. Last month, at the rally by Raleigh more than four and a half hours from here, Trump said, He loves his country, he loves his state, and Ill tell you, he is respected all over the place. By Reuben Jones Washington, D.C. One of his accusers worked as a Republican intern on Capitol Hill at the time she went public with her allegation. Cawthorn has used a wheelchair since the crash. 0:44. | Madison Cawthorn was involved in a car accident at 18 years old. There were 300 to 400 people in a theater on the ship, he said, and they were divided into about 10 teams. More recently hes lost the backing of the top two Republicans in the state Legislature, House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger; the states GOP senators, Richard Burr and Thom Tillis; and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in Washington. Hes in pain when hes sitting there with you. Wilson told me she left their dinner with Cawthorn wondering whether in some small way if he didnt win, he would be , The primary in the district is essentially a referendum on Cawthorn. He shrugged off the lingerie snaps as " goofy vacation photos " and of Wednesday's humping video, he tweeted: "A new hit against me . Chip In. The onetime best friend of Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) said the congressman lied about certain details regarding the car accident that left him wheelchair-bound. He had said during the deposition he was full-time he would tell the Asheville Citizen-Times the same thing during the campaign but he wasnt. Polling shows Cawthorn sagging but still in the lead, his closest competitor being Chuck Edwards a state senator from the area who has the backing of Tillis and some of the best, most experienced strategists in the state. | To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. Hes not OK, said Michele Woodhouse, the former Republican chair of the 11th District whos now running against him. In an intriguing twist, Cawthorns comments were first reported by Republican strategist Karl Rove, who insisted that they didnt represent the Republican Party as a whole. I cant work out. I read somewhere, said one of the attorneys toward the end of the day-long deposition, that you wanted to be a congressman?, Cawthorn speaks with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and supporters after a "Get Out the Vote" rally with North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis in October 2020. I cant hike. We dont want to be arrogant. He chided his opponent, Lynda Bennett, whom Meadows and Trump had endorsed, for refusing to commit to debate him. The . He worked for us and answered the phone, and couldnt even do that, just to be honest, this person said. Im sure her and I will get along when I get to Congress., Black lives matter, Cawthorn said that month during a debate with his Democratic opponent Moe Davis, a retired Air Force colonel and former prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay. Ledford veered from the interstate, crashing his father's SUV into a concrete barricade going about 65 miles per hour. Amanda Greene for Politico Magazine, When it was over, I sought out Matthew Burril, who casts his candidacy in a decidedly faith-based light. But in recent months, he seems to be committing transgressions at an accelerated rate, to the point that some days hes now the focus of multiple mini-scandals (and some not-so-mini ones). The SUV crashed into a concrete barrier while Cawthorn's feet were on the dashboard. He was suing Ledford and Ledfords fathers business for millions of dollars of medical bills. In a 2017 speech, Cawthorn said that Ledford left him "to die in a fiery tomb," however, Ledford publicly disputed this in 2021 saying that he pulled Cawthorn from the wreck once he escaped the car. All Rights Reserved. Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do. Cawthorn has repeatedly been stopped and cited for speeding. I cant bail hay. Dont miss it! 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