Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) is now claiming that he wasn’t referring to his fellow Republican politicians when he claimed that leaders he “looked up to” in Washington had invited him to orgies and had also done cocaine in front of him.
In a statement released Friday, the controversial congressman said his comments on a recent podcast appearance “calling out corruption have been used by the left and the media to disparage my Republican colleagues and falsely insinuate their involvement in illicit activities.”
In an interview posted last week on the right-wing YouTube channel Warrior Poet Society, Cawthorn said that Washington elites had used cocaine in front of him and invited him to sex parties.
Since Cawthorn is fond of Donald Trump and hates Democrats, many people assumed the admired Washington elites inviting Cawthorn to orgies and snorting coke in his presence were probably Republicans.
As a result, he was heavily criticized by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who has since endorsed Cawthorn’s opponent in the Republican primary.
On Friday, Cawthorn addressed the controversy on social media.
“Corruption and unethical activities exist in Washington,” the 26-year-old Cawthorn said in a statement posted on Twitter. “It’s an indisputable fact. If you don’t think that’s true, you’ve not witnessed the Swamp.”
But Cawthorn didn’t blame himself for making the comments, nor did he blame the right-wing YouTube channel Warrior Poet Society, which promoted the interview.
Instead, Cawthorn blamed “the left and the media” for accurately reporting his comments and speculating about whom he was referencing.
“The left and the media want to use my words to divide the GOP,” Cawthorn said in the statement. “They are terrified of Republicans taking back the House and seeing Leader McCarthy become Speaker McCarthy. Their efforts to divide us will fail.”
You can see the full statement below.
Many Twitter users noted some interesting things in Cawthorn’s statement.