There is new controversy surrounding North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn.
It comes after a sexually explicit video surfaced Wednesday (May. 04, 2022) featuring Cawthorn and another man.
He responded to the controversy on Twitter Wednesday.
“A new hit against me just dropped. Years ago, in this video, I was being crass with a friend, trying to be funny. We were acting foolish, and joking. That’s it. I’m NOT backing down. I told you there would be a drip drip campaign. Blackmail won’t win. We will.
Cawthorn is up for reelection in less than two weeks.
Political experts believe the video was leaked by other Republicans. Most likely, one of his seven challengers in the North Carolina primary. The question is whether it will have any impact.
“He’s got a very hardcore base of supporters, so I suspect that this will not affect him very much with his base,” said Dr. Brent Nelsen, professor of politics at Furan University. “Now the question is what happens in a general election when there are many more voters taking a look at him.”
Cawthorn has been in the headlines recently. Last month, he was cited for carrying a loaded gun at the Charlotte Airport.
In March, he was pulled over for speeding where it was discovered that he was driving with a revoked license.
Flyers are also out now attacking his record in Washington.
We reached out to his seven Republican challengers. Three of them shared their thoughts Thursday afternoon.
“Cawthorn’s record speaks for itself. When I see these kinds of smear tactics, the only word that comes to my mind is despicable. And it just may backfire because I wouldn’t want to vote for a person that runs their campaign that way,” said Bruce O’Connell.
“It’s unfortunate, but I would say the young man needs our prayers needs, our thoughts and we’ve got to get behind him to make sure he gets through his seven months, but for everything there’s a season and Madison Cawthorn’s season as our representative is up,” said Rod Honeycutt.
“I haven’t seen (the video). I don’t want to see it. I have no interest in any of those images being in my brain, but I’m not surprised at all. Here’s a person that’s obviously done a few things in his life that has shown some very poor decision making,” said Matthew Burril.
