Matthew Chapman
August 30, 2021
Madison Cawthorn (Screen Grab)
On Monday, CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale flagged a speech Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) gave to a group of Republicans in Macon County, North Carolina in an event on Sunday, in which he not only continued to push former President Donald Trump's "big lie" that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, but suggested conservatives may need to resort to violence to prevent such elections from happening again.
"If our election systems continue to be rigged, continue to be stolen, then it's gonna lead to one place and that's bloodshed," said Cawthorn. "There's nothing I would dread doing more than having to pick up arms against a fellow American. And the way that we can have recourse against that is if we all passionately demand that we have election security in all 50 states."
In response to Dale's fact-check, a spokesperson for Madison Cawthorn quickly tried to walk back the congressman's suggestion of civil war: "Cawthorn is CLEARLY advocating for violence not to occur over election integrity questions. He fears others would erroneously choose that route and strongly states that election integrity issues should be resolved peacefully and never through violence."
Cawthorn also provoked controversy at the Macomb County event by suggesting the jailed participants in the January 6 Capitol attack are "political hostages" — and that he is "actively working" on a plan to bring Trump supporters back to the Capitol.
'He doesn't seem like the brightest bulb': MSNBC conservative blasts Madison Cawthorn's 'violent fantasies'
Travis Gettys
August 31, 2021
Screengrab.
MSNBC's Elise Jordan called on Republicans to denounce Rep. Madison Cawthorn's insurrection threats, even if they're likely toothless.
The North Carolina Republican defended the jailed insurrectionists as "political hostages" and told constituents that he was "actively working on" bringing Donald Trump supporters to Washington for some type of action, and the "Morning Joe" contributor said GOP leadership should impose consequences.
"In an alternative universe, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, you would have had GOP leadership doing something to clamp down Madison Cawthorn from his violent fantasies, but today it gets him slots on cable news, juices his fundraising and he's allowed to say and do whatever he wants, no matter how damaging," Jordan said, "and if it's inciting violence which we saw from the top, Donald Trump, and what he brought and how plenty of Republican leaders did nothing to clamp down on Donald Trump's calls for repeatd violence."
Jordan, who served as an aide in the George W. Bush White House and as an adviser to Sen. Rand Paul's presidential campaign, said she doesn't think Cawthorn's threats are serious, but she said they're still way out of bounds.
"He doesn't seem like the brightest bulb, seems like he's going for the attention and isn't a mastermind of planning an insurrection," Jordan said. "But this is the rhetoric Republicans need to decry, and the fact that they aren't and the fact that he's seemingly operating in a consequence-free universe within the Republican Party, it's very troubling and it shows the state of the Republican Party right now."
Calls to expel ‘traitorous’ Madison Cawthorn grow after he warns of ‘bloodshed’ and lies about ‘rigged’ election
David Badash, The New Civil Rights MovementAugust 31, 2021
Madison Cawthorn (Screen Grab)
Remarks made by U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) are being seen as so volatile and destructive some are calling for his expulsion from Congress.
The North Carolina Republican lawmaker was warned to stop campaigning across the country and start paying attention to his own constituents. On Sunday, The Washington Post reports, Cawthorn told his local Macon County Republican Party "that elections in the United States are 'rigged' and said there will be 'bloodshed' if the country's electoral system continues on its current path."
Immediately after holding a shotgun Cawthorn said, "I will tell you, as much as I am willing to defend our liberty at all costs, there is nothing that I would dread doing more than having to pick up arms against a fellow American. And the way that we can have recourse against that is if we all passionately demand that we have election security in all 50 states."
After urging President Joe Biden's Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, Cawthorn promised, “I will remove Joe Biden from office, and then, when Kamala Harris inevitably screws up, we will take them down, one at a time."
And he called those arrested in the January 6 insurrection, which he helped incite, “political prisoners" and “political hostages."
The Post also reported that on Sunday "a member of the crowd asked Cawthorn, 'When are you going to call us to Washington again?'"
In response, Cawthorn appeared to suggest that plans for a gathering were in the works, although he did not provide details.
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“That — we are actively working on that one," he said. “I don't have an answer to that one right yet. But we are actively working on this. We have a few plans in motion that I can't make public right now."
As news spreads of his remarks, many are furious and demanding he be expelled from Congress
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