Rep. Madison Cawthorn, North Carolina Republican, swung back after photos of him wearing women’s lingerie during a cruise-ship game made the rounds, saying it would take more than “goofy vacation photos” to scuttle his political career.
The photos posted Friday by Politico prompted his critics on social media to accuse him of hypocrisy, citing his recent allegations of “sexual perversion” in Washington, D.C., and opposition to the gender-identity movement.
Mr. Cawthorn said that the photos were taken before he was elected to Congress in 2020 and linked to a CruiseCritic article about Royal Caribbean’s Quest scavenger hunt, where items to be found included “a man wearing lipstick or someone with their pants on backward.”
“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?” Mr. Cawthorn tweeted. “They’re running out of things to throw at me…Share your most embarrassing vacay pics in the replies.”
Mr. Cawthorn also responded to a tweet from progressive journalist Aaron Rupar, who said, “It’s not the photos. It’s the hypocrisy.”
“My gender didn’t change when I put that stuff on,” said Mr. Cawthorn. “And neither does anyone else’s.”
SEE ALSO: Rep. Madison Cawthorn causes GOP stir with orgy, cocaine comments
Among those coming to Mr. Cawthorn’s defense was right-leaning podcaster Dave Rubin, who called it a “Pathetic @politico weasel hit job.”
“Oh no, @CawthornforNC played a drinking game on a cruise ship before he was a congressman!” Mr. Rubin tweeted.
This is a big miss from POLITICO given Rep Cawthorn’s explanation and the article he linked to about the cruise ship game. They basically accuse him of being a hypocrite and a bad Christian. pic.twitter.com/ED2oBduX8x
— Amber Athey (@amber_athey) April 22, 2022
A similar kerfuffle erupted last week in Alabama, where AL.com ran a high school yearbook photo of Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim James participating as a teen in a pep rally in which some boys were dressed as girls. He wore a cowboy hat and jeans.
Mr. James, who’s challenging Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, has a campaign ad criticizing a drag-show fundraiser at the Magic City Acceptance Academy, a public charter school.
The photos of Mr. Cawthorn came with the 26-year-old first-term congressman facing multiple Republican challengers in the May 17 primary.
Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Mr. Cawthorn, but Sen. Thom Tillis, North Carolina Republican, came out last month in support of GOP state Sen. Chuck Edwards, telling CNN that the freshman congressman has “fallen well short of the most basic standard western North Carolina expects from their representatives.”
Mr. Cawthorn’s claim last month about colleagues inviting him to sex parties and doing cocaine in front of him drew a rebuke from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, while groups on the left tried unsuccessfully to get him kicked off the 2022 ballot for being an “insurrectionist.”
Mr. Cawthorn spurred criticism across the board for a video last month in which he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “thug.” He tweeted afterward that he was “praying for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.”
Mr. Cawthorn, who uses a wheelchair after being injured in a 2014 car accident in which he was a passenger, has also drawn headlines for his traffic tickets. He was cited three times in the last five months for speeding and driving with a revoked license, the Asheville Citizen Times reported last week.
Despite the negative publicity, Mr. Cawthorn benefits in his reelection bid from being the best-known candidate in a crowded field. Eight Republicans have qualified for the primary ballot.
An internal poll conducted April 2-4 showed Mr. Cawthorn leading the pack but moving in the wrong direction. He was ahead of Mr. Edwards by 44-24%, a sizable margin but below the 52-20% advantage enjoyed by the congressman last month, according to the Carolina Journal.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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