Cawthorn’s latest episode, his youthful brashness - which once appealed to the conservative older voters of far-west North Carolina - struck some as reckless and immature. Taylor Greene for an appearance at a conference organized by a white supremacist, he refused last year to back her removal from committees for endorsing violent behavior and spreading bigoted conspiracy theories. They include Representatives Paul Gosar of Arizona, who posted an animated video showing him killing a Democratic congresswoman, and Matt Gaetz of Florida, who is under federal investigation for allegations of sex trafficking. McCarthy, who aspires to be House speaker, acted only after declining to discipline other members for norm-shattering behavior and accusations. The minority leader said that he told the freshman congressman that he had lost trust in him and that he needed to turn his life around. Cawthorn admitted the allegations were untrue. On Tuesday, upset House Republicans at a closed-door meeting questioned the remarks, and Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the House minority leader, told colleagues that he would speak to Mr. One of those claims finally set off his fellow House Republicans this week: a bizarre assertion he made on a conservative YouTube channel that people he “looked up to” in Washington - presumably Republican lawmakers - invited him to orgies and used cocaine. Cawthorn is also saddled with a yearslong series of hyperbolic claims about his personal life, raising questions about his honesty. Unlike some other far-right members of Congress - including Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, both of whom booed President Biden during his State of the Union speech - Mr. He has a May court date on the misdemeanor count that carries jail time. Cawthorn, who has used a wheelchair since being injured in an automobile accident when he was 18, was charged this month with driving with a revoked license. The congressman has made headlines for bringing a knife to a school board meeting and bringing a gun through airport security. ![]() Cawthorn, 26, called President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine “a thug” and his country “incredibly evil” as Russian tanks rolled in. ![]() “I voted for Madison, but I think I’ll pass now because of integrity issues,’’ said John Harper, a retired furniture finisher in Franklin, N.C., at a Republican event in Mr. That is the object lesson of Representative Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, the House’s youngest member, whose bid for a second term is in jeopardy after a series of incendiary statements and personal foibles have soured many former supporters. In the era of Donald Trump’s takeover of the Republican Party - when making falsehoods about an election isn’t disqualifying, when heckling a president at the State of the Union is no big deal, when attending an event tied to white supremacists doesn’t lead to exile - it may still be possible for a hard-right member of Congress to go too far.
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