Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
- Madison Cawthorn is vowing revenge after Republicans helped tank his re-election bid.
- He says he’s on a “mission” to expose colleagues who “work towards another, self-profiteering, globalist goal.”
- Cawthorn’s troubles escalated when he made unverified claims about colleagues engaging in orgies.
Fresh off of a primary election defeat that saw members of his own party and even some former supporters turn their backs on him, 26-year-old Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina is vowing revenge.
After declaring that the “best is yet to come” two days after he conceded defeat to state Sen. Chuck Edwards, the first-term lawmaker posted a graphic on Instagram that he says includes the “lion share [sic] of figures that came to my defense when it was not politically profitable.”
The list included Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Matt Gaetz of Florida, and Paul Gosar of Arizona, Steve Bannon, the National Rifle Association, and various other right-wing media figures.
“When the establishment turned their guns on me, when the Uni-party coalesced to defeat an America First member very few people had my back,” said Cawthorn. “These are honorable men and women who are the type of friends anyone yearns to have. “
They’re also among the few friends Cawthorn still had in Congress following an embarrassing string of scandals that included attempting to bring guns onto planes, potentially engaging insider trading, insinuating that his colleagues participate in cocaine-fueled orgies, and having a nude video leaked by a rival PAC.
The orgy allegations marked something of a turning point for Cawthorn: within days, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had summoned the 26-year-old to his office, telling reporters afterwards that Cawthorn had lost his trust.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina then backed Edwards’ primary challenge to Cawthorn, and even former President Donald Trump observed that Cawthorn had made “foolish mistakes” while in office even as he urged voters to give him a “second chance.”
Cawthorn went on to mis-quote author Mark Twain, writing in quotes that “at the beginning of a change the patriot is a rare and hated man.” (Twain had written “a scarce man” in his original 1901 work “As Regards ‘Patriotism'”).
“These are those rare and hated men/women,” Cawthorn wrote, apparently referring to the graphic. “There are other National figures who I believe are patriots, but I am on a mission now to expose those who say and promise one thing yet legislate and work towards another, self-profiteering, globalist goal.”
He also wrote that the time for “gentile politics as usual” is over, declaring that it’s “time for the rise of the new right, it’s time for Dark MAGA to truly take command.”
“Dark MAGA” refers to a burgeoning aesthetic movement gaining traction among the far-right online. The Global Network on Extremism & Technology has identified the movement as one that “celebrates violence and the terror that fascist organising might inspire.”
“We have an enemy to defeat, but we will never be able to defeat them until we defeat the cowardly and weak members of our own party,” he wrote. “Their days are numbered. We are coming.”
As for Cawthorn, he has just 7 and a half months left in Congress, and it remains unclear what exactly he means by his pledge to “expose” his colleagues.
