After the video appeared on social media, Cawthorn tweeted, “A brand new hit towards me simply dropped. Years in the past, on this video, I used to be being crass with a good friend, attempting to be humorous. We have been appearing silly, and joking. That is it. I am NOT backing down. I advised you there can be a drip drip marketing campaign. Blackmail will not win. We are going to.”
CNN has not been in a position to independently affirm the video. CNN has reached out to Cawthorn for remark.
It is the most recent controversy for the 26-year-old, who’s working for reelection with early voting already underway. The first can be held on Could 17.
The freshman Republican has angered and irritated numerous his colleagues with a string of antics. Cawthorn grew to become a nationwide determine in 2020 when he beat then-President Donald Trump’s endorsed candidate within the main to interchange then-White Home chief of employees Mark Meadows in Congress. However he has precipitated numerous distractions for Home Republicans, who’re attempting to win the bulk in November.
Late final month, Cawthorn was cited for bringing a loaded handgun by a Transportation Safety Administration checkpoint on the Charlotte airport. And in February 2021, brokers on the Asheville Regional Airport discovered an unloaded gun and a loaded journal in Cawthorn’s carry-on bag. A Cawthorn spokesman advised the Asheville Citizen-Occasions when the paper printed a narrative concerning the incident in July 2021 that the congressman had had introduced the gun “by mistake.” Cawthorn was not charged.
In March, Cawthorn sparked an uproar after claiming on a podcast that individuals in Washington have invited him to take part in orgies and used cocaine in entrance of him. The episode prompted members of his personal social gathering to think about endorsing one in all his main opponents, in keeping with a number of sources acquainted with the discussions on the time, amid rising issues that the North Carolina Republican was dragging down the social gathering together with his problematic habits. Sen. Thom Tillis has thrown his weight behind state Sen. Chuck Edwards in his main towards Cawthorn.
Home Minority Chief Kevin McCarthy, amid complaints from members following Cawthorn’s allegations, advised the freshman lawmaker he wanted to get his act collectively or else he might face inner penalties, saying additionally that Cawthorn admitted the allegations have been unfaithful.
“He is obtained to show himself round,” McCarthy advised reporters on the time. “I simply advised him he is misplaced my belief, and he will must earn it again. I laid out every thing I discover that is unbecoming. … He is obtained a variety of members upset. You’ll be able to’t simply make statements on the market.”
CNN reported that very same month that Cawthorn was dealing with prices of driving with a revoked driver’s license — the second time within the final 5 years he had confronted that cost.
He additionally drew unfavourable headlines when a video surfaced wherein he referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “thug” and stated that the Ukrainian authorities was “extremely evil.”
In 2021, CNN reported on a sequence of allegations of sexual misconduct made towards Cawthorn by girls who stated he behaved inappropriately towards them throughout his faculty years. Cawthorn has denied any wrongdoing.
CNN’s Dianne Gallagher, Melanie Zanona, Manu Raju, Alex Rogers and Chris Cillizza contributed to this report.
