Madison Cawthorn Should Name Who Invited Him to Orgy, Meghan McCain Says
BY NATALIE COLAROSSI ON 3/29/22 AT 4:10 PM EDT
https://www.newsweek.com/madison-cawthorn-invited-orgy-cocaine-names-1693093
Freshman Congressman Madison Cawthorn, a North Carolina Republican, is facing calls to reveal more information about his recent claims that fellow lawmakers in Washington have invited him to an orgy and done cocaine in front of him.
On Tuesday, Meghan McCain said on Twitter that the American people "deserve to know" the names of the people that Cawthorn was referring to when he made the controversial remarks in an interview last week.
McCain, a TV personality and daughter of the late John McCain, speculated that those lawmakers are likely MAGA supporters.
"So, Madison Cawthorne [sic] only hangs out with hard core MAGA people in DC…" McCain began. "The American public deserves to know which members of congress are doing cocaine and having orgies because they are unfit for office. Should we all just start guessing the people he's talking about?"
Cawthorn's controversial statements came during an appearance on the Warrior Poet Society podcast, in which he said that the Netflix drama House of Cards was an accurate portrayal of Washington.
"I look at all these people, a lot of them that I've looked up to through my life, I've always paid attention to politics," Cawthorn said. "Then all of the sudden you get invited to, 'Well hey, we're going to have kind of a sexual get-together at one of our homes, you should come.' I'm like, 'What did you just ask me to come to?' And then you realize they are asking you to come to an orgy."
Cawthorn then added that he's watched some of the people leading the national movement against drug addiction "do a key bump of cocaine" right in front of him.
His statements have reportedly angered several of his Republican colleagues, who discussed the issue during a closed-door House GOP conference meeting on Tuesday, which Cawthorn did not attend.
Arkansas Representative Steve Womack was among those who spoke out, telling the group he has received questions from his constituents about the claims, Politico reported. Others in the GOP have reportedly expressed doubt in Cawthorn's allegations.
According to reporters from both CNN and Politico, some lawmakers on Tuesday even joined McCain in wanting Cawthorn to identify the names of those who he claimed have engaged in the inappropriate behaviors.
"There's a desire among fellow Republicans for Cawthorn to identify the colleagues involved to prove the truth of his comments, but that desire to name names could also cause new headaches for a conference that's already faced an array of controversies this Congress," Politico reporter Olivia Beavers wrote on Tuesday.
In response to the ongoing controversy, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has promised to sit down with Cawthorn to discuss his comments.
This is not the first time the 26-year-old and staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump has caused trouble for the GOP. Earlier this month, Cawthorn faced criticism from the party for referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a "thug."
Senator Richard Burr, a fellow North Carolina Republican, said in an interview on Tuesday that Cawthorn has "been an embarrassment at times."
Newsweek reached out to Cawthorn's office for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.