Trump Invites Cawthorn To Speak At Rally After Fallout With GOP Leadership Over Orgy Claim

Topline

Former President Donald Trump’s political action committee announced Friday Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) will be a featured speaker at an upcoming Trump rally, despite top Republicans lambasting Cawthorn over his wild claims political figures invited him to orgies and used cocaine.

Key Facts

Cawthorn will be one of the guest speakers at Trump’s April 9 rally in Selma, North Carolina, the former president’s Save America PAC said.

Top congressional Republicans have expressed outrage with Cawthorn over his recent comments, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy telling reporters Wednesday: “He’s lost my trust.”

McCarthy met with the 26-year-old freshman congressman for about 30 minutes Wednesday, saying he told Cawthorn to make life choices to “turn himself around” while not ruling out potentially stripping Cawthorn of committee assignments.

McCarthy also said Cawthorn admitted he exaggerated or made up stories that he’d been invited to a “sexual get-together” and saw anti-addiction advocates doing “key bumps” of cocaine in front of him.

Senate candidate Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), and political newcomer Bo Hines, who’s running for Budd’s open House seat, will also serve as guest speakers.

Crucial Quote

“You can’t make statements like that as a member of Congress—it affects everybody else and the country as a whole,” McCarthy said Wednesday.

Key Background

Cawthorn’s comments, which he made last week on the “Warrior Poet Society” podcast, came just weeks after McCarthy publicly denounced him as “wrong” to attack Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom Cawthorn called a “thug” leading an “incredibly evil” government. Trump in the past has spoken glowingly of Cawthorn, such as at a GOP event last summer where he called him a “handsome sucker” who has a “good future.” Cawthorn has been known as a staunch Trump ally during his time in Congress, and he notably spoke at Trump’s January 6, 2021 rally in Washington before the then-president’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Tangent

Cawthorn went on the defensive during his 2020 campaign when a 2017 Instagram post surfaced showing him celebrating a trip to Nazi dictator and mass murderer Adolf Hitler’s retreat in the German Alps.

Further Reading

‘He’s Lost My Trust’: McCarthy Rebukes Cawthorn Over Allegations Of Orgies And Cocaine Use (Forbes)

Rep. Madison Cawthorn Blasts Ukraine’s Zelensky As A ‘Thug’ (Forbes)