The Charlotte Observer Editorial Board slammed newly-elected Congressman Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) and called him an “embarrassment” to his state and his party. Cawthorn is one of the Republicans that backed Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the election after being defeated by President Joe Biden. After the Capitol riots, Cawthorn backed off from election fraud claims and condemned Trump for his remarks even though the North Carolina Republican pushed the same claims. And before the riots, Cawthorne told a pro-Trump group to “lightly threaten” members of Congress.
“Cawthorn wasn’t alone in that kind of whiplash-inducing pivot,” the paper writes. “But he was the only lawmaker calling for unity after Jan. 6 who also sold ‘Cry more, lib’ T-shirts on his website. (He later removed the listing.).”
Cawthorn was slammed for a message to Republican colleagues that said, “I have built my staff around comms rather than legislation.”
“That commitment to messaging, rather than understanding and participating in legislating, might have been something that interested his constituents before they voted to send him to Congress,” the paper wrote.
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The paper also noted Cawthorns’s recent interview on CNN that discussed North Carolina election laws — and apparently, the lawmaker doesn’t know the election laws in his own state.
“Cawthorn inexplicably doesn’t know what’s going on in his home state, or he lied,” the paper said.
“Cawthorn’s strategy for these kinds of mishaps? It’s apparently to keep doing interviews, which results in more head-shaking headlines and national ridicule. It’s why the North Carolina freshman is on the medal stand for worst new member of Congress,” the paper wrote.
The paper brought up gerrymandering in N.C.
“It’s difficult to feel sorry for GOP leaders, however, including those in North Carolina,” the op-ed continues. “Cawthorn is a creation of their making, a product of legislative gerrymandering his state’s Republicans engaged after their 2010 victory in the N.C. House and Senate. Those maps resulted in some of the most gerrymandered districts in history, and even after courts intervened for fairer maps, a Republican is still all but assured to win in NC-11.”
“As has happened in districts across the country, such gerrymandering squeezes out moderates who thoughtfully consider the center. That leads to awful candidates and elected officials, and as lawmakers embark on a new round of map-drawing in 2021, they should keep Cawthorn in mind,” the paper adds. “It might be nice to get easy election wins, but it’s not good for your party or the people you’re supposed to serve.”
You can read the report here (paywall).
Featured image via screen capture
