Cawthorn, 26, was raised in a conservative Baptist community in Henderson County, North Carolina, and has staked his political persona on arch-traditional Christian principles and the insistence of the importance of a kind of hypermasculinity.
His remarks about “the sexual perversion” in Washington made on a podcast, which he later admitted were exaggerated, drew the public disapproval and disavowal of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as well as other Republican leaders including those in his North Carolina congressional caucus.
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The freshman lawmaker accused left-wing critics of running out of things to throw at him, saying Politico did not include the context for the images that show him wearing lingerie. According to Cawthorn, the photos were from a large scavenger hunt game on a cruise the congressman took before he ran for office.
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"I guess the left thinks goofy vacation photos during a game on a cruise (taken waaay before I ran for Congress) is going to somehow hurt me?" Cawthorn tweeted. "They're running out of things to throw at me."
Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, swiped at Cawthorn's socially conservative values, calling the photographs "the end of men" in a tweet Friday.
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Cawthorn has faced criticism within his own party after he accused members of the GOP of inviting him to orgies and cocaine-fueled parties. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Cawthorn lost his trust by putting out the wild claims, saying there was no evidence Cawthorn's statements were true.
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"I told him you can't make statements like that, as a member of Congress, that affects everybody else and the country as a whole," McCarthy told reporters.
The North Carolina Republican later confessed that his comments were hyperbole.
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Cawthorn, who is running in his first reelection bid this year, has made a reputation for preaching Christian principles and traditional masculinity.
“I think that we have bred a generation of soft men, and that generation has created a lot of problems in our society and our culture,” Cawthorn said in March 2021 on a podcast “designed to reclaim and
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The freshman lawmaker is no alien to controversy, attracting criticism from both parties after he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a "thug," accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of having a drinking problem, and was cited for multiple traffic violations.
Cawthorn faces a crowded GOP primary, set for next month, of seven Republicans who believe him to be a weak candidate.
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