Politics

Madison Cawthorn savaged for posting pic of himself smoking cigar as North Carolina flooded

Rep. Madison Cawthorn
Rep. Madison Cawthorn Photo: US Congress

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) is taking fire for abandoning his constituents as floodwaters ravaged his district, destroying homes and sweeping residents away.

The Mountaineer newspaper savaged the gadfly Trump supporter, charging him with “dereliction of duty.”

Related: Lesbian minister announces she will challenge seditionist Congressman Madison Cawthorn

While the region experienced calamity, the Congressman posted photos of himself to Instagram smoking a cigar and listening to conservative podcasts according to the outlet. The photos have apparently been removed from the account.

“As the floodwaters rose with fury — destroying homes and businesses in their path — and finally receded in the late morning hours of Wednesday,” the editorial reads, Cawthorn “released no statement, no list of resources or shelters for constituents, and not a single tweet in support of the thousands in WNC residents suffering from the flood.”

“Lest we think he was simply off the grid, 26-year-old Cawthorn tweeted or retweeted Republican talking points nine times from his official House account while the raging storm took hold of his district, reaping destruction on towns and rural communities. From tweets about finishing ‘the wall’ to swearing America will never be an ‘Islamic state,’ Cawthorn flatly, and blatantly ignored the people he has sworn to represent.”

One of Cawthorn’s tweets, sent the day after the disaster, said that his constituents don’t “want government intervention; we want LESS government. Our Founders never envisioned our government to be this powerful.”

“More than a day after floodwaters began to rise, staffers were still scrambling to respond to basic questions, apparently surprised by the onslaught of calls from constituents,” the paper continued.

Turns out, Cawthorn’s constituents wanted some government intervention after all.

“Cawthorn’s first public comments on the matter were around 24 hours after the Pigeon River reached initial flood levels, followed by retweets of hours-old resources from other public organizations working on the crisis. His tweets in support of the community and of photo ops with damage came more than 12 hours after floodwaters fell back below the flood line,” the paper concluded. “Too little, too late.”

Hal Weatherman, Cawthorn’s District Director, responded to the article on Facebook, saying, “In my nearly 30 years of politics, this hit piece directed at my boss is the most factually incorrect, complete partisan bullshit lie piece I have ever seen.”

Cawthorn helped to instigate the MAGA riot at the Capitol building and has been accused of sexual harassment and predatory behavior. He has shown support for white supremacy and was exposed for lying about a car accident that left him paralyzed by his former friend, the driver of the automobile. He also claimed the accident derailed his plans to attend the Naval Academy, but his application had already been rejected before the accident.

Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, a lesbian minister and mom of three, has announced she will run against Cawthorn in the next election.

 

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