House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has told GOP colleague North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn to “straighten his life out” and hasn’t ruled out further disciplinary after the freshman congressman backtracked on claims he made in an interview that politicians invited him to an orgy and did cocaine in front of him.
Cawthorn made the claims last week during an appearance on the Warrior Poet Society podcast with host John Lovell after he was asked how realistic the Netflix series House of Cards is. His comment sparked fury within the House GOP conference, with members fuming over being questioned about which members are partaking in drug use and orgies.
After a meeting with House leadership on Wednesday, McCarthy said Cawthorn, 26, told him and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise he exaggerated the claims and changed his story.
“In the interview, he claims he watched people do cocaine. Now then, when he comes to tell me, he says no — he thinks he saw maybe a staffer in a parking garage from 100 yards away and tells me that he doesn’t know what cocaine is,” he said Wednesday.
ORGIES AND COCAINE: CAWTHORN CLAIMS CONGRESS IS SIMILAR TO HOUSE OF CARDS
The California Republican noted that Cawthorn’s series of scandals, which have ranged from disparaging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to facing legal troubles for driving with a suspended license, have sparked frustrations within the GOP conference, with some members believing he is a distraction heading into November.
“He’s got to turn himself around. He’s driving on a suspended license, his comment — he could have a different opinion, but his comments about Zelensky, this is unacceptable. There’s no evidence to this. He changes what he tells, and that’s not becoming the congressman,” McCarthy continued.
McCarthy added that he does not see Cawthorn’s age as an excuse, asserting that his false statements affect “everyone else and the country as a whole.”
“When you’re in Congress, you should respect the institution, and you should focus on the work that you should do,” he continued. “I just told him he’s lost my trust. He’s going to have to earn it back, and I laid out everything that I find is unbecoming — you can’t just say you can’t do this again. I mean, he’s got a lot of members very upset. You can’t just make statements up there. If you can’t back them up with any evidence, that’s a problem.”
While McCarthy has not revoked his support for Cawthorn in his primary race or kicked him off of committees, he said further disciplinary action is on the table if the conservative firebrand does not change his behavior.
“You can’t be a member of Congress and lie to an officer about doing something on the floor. You cannot have the ability of losing a driver’s license, not showing up to court, and driving again — he needs to straighten his life out,” he said. “We’ll see what actions he takes to correct this problem.”
Cawthorn declined to comment on the meeting.
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House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican, said he would also “have a chat with the man” about his behavior as soon as their schedules permit.
