New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was a thorn in the side of senior Democratic members when she first came to Capitol Hill, but as of Jan. 3, Republicans will have their own young, idealistic charge to contend with.
North Carolina Republican Rep.-elect Madison Cawthorn, a 25-year-old paraplegic survivor of a near deadly car crash, made headlines when his campaign team of 20-somethings helped him defeat a Trump-endorsed candidate, supported by his former boss Rep. Mark Meadows, in the primary.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Cawthorn blamed the media as well as Republican and Democratic Party leaders for the current polarized political environment.
“My biggest fear is for-profit journalists creating a culture that is so divided. I also want to blame [Republican and Democratic Party leaders]. I think they’re fueling this divide in our country,” Cawthorn said. “This national two-party system, where you have these kind of Republican and Democrat bosses, seems like they are really pushing this whole bad communication style.”
He added, “I think that they’re fueling their reelection campaigns the way they run about business by dividing America.”
This is not the first time Cawthorn was critical of his own party. He blasted the GOP in its messaging of immigration and healthcare, saying in a previous interview that the party sounded extremist and did not have a plan to replace Obamacare.
Nevertheless, the young GOP member said he found an affinity with President Trump’s counterpunch style and that he looks up to certain members of the House GOP, including House Minority Whip Steve Scalise and Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw.
“I really appreciate how Steve Scalise goes about his work. I would say he’s a warrior within the Congress, but he is also very happy and joyful with how it goes,” Cawthorn said. “And I think we need more happy warriors. It’s fun to be conservative. It’s enjoyable to love your country.”
Crenshaw used his Twitter account to criticize not only Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar for a tweet about 9/11 but also Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican he demanded “start acting” like a member of Congress.
Cawthorn, who tweeted the night of his election, “Cry more, lib,” said he finds Crenshaw’s prowess on social media effective messaging to his demographic.
“I think [Crenshaw] has done an incredible job of leveraging social media to really be able to get a message out to a generation that hasn’t really heard a conservative message in a way that they can understand,” Cawthorn said.
However, he appears willing to reach out to different members of his party that some of his GOP colleagues may eschew. Greene tweeted a photo of both working out together at the gym.
“Madison is a real champion, and I’m thrilled that we will battle together against the Socialist Squad’s radical plans for America,” she tweeted.
It may not be unusual that Cawthorn, who prides himself as a conservative, is willing to be critical of his party’s messaging while embracing the party base’s conservatism. His district goes back and forth between Democrats and Republicans over congressional election cycles.
North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, previously represented by Meadows since 2012 before he left Congress to become Trump’s White House chief of staff back in March, was known as one of the most competitive in the state.
Although the district was solid blue for a half a century prior, redistricting and retirements eventually brought it swinging back and forth between a new Republican and Democratic House member every few election cycles, with some staying a little longer than others, since 1981.
Cawthorn, however, is different from his predecessors, as he already made history just by getting elected.
After the North Carolina Republican is sworn in, he will become the youngest member of Congress since Rep. Jed Johnson, an Oklahoma Democrat who was elected at age 24 and sworn in at age 25 in 1965. Johnson served only one term, as he was defeated in his reelection.
Cawthorn, who will be one of three members of Congress confined to a wheelchair, is the age of most junior congressional staffers, ranging from press secretaries to legislative assistants.
His Democratic opponent this cycle, Moe Davis, attacked him for his lack of life experience, but Cawthorn shrugged it off, saying he expects this criticism.
“There’s not really much of a way I can really defeat that. I’m 25 years old. This is the peak of a significant amount of people’s careers here in Washington, D.C., and so now, they obviously want to say, ‘He’s 25. He doesn’t deserve to be here. He should have gone through all three years,’” he said.
He added, “But in my mind, I don’t think the country has enough time to weigh in. And so, I’m not up here to be a show horse. I want to get on a good committee. I want to work very hard for our people, and not just specifically for western North Carolina but as a country as a whole.”
Other GOP members of the North Carolina delegation said they look forward to working with Cawthorn and that he will be a strong asset to the party.
“We’re excited to have him. He’s full of energy, and he’ll have, I’m sure, a lot of good ideas. I have family out in his district who was very excited about him, and the folks in the district are,” Rep. Virginia Foxx said. “So, I think the whole delegation is very pleased to have somebody making history and coming in to change a lot of the profile of the Republican Party.”
Rep. Patrick McHenry, who was just five years older than Cawthorn when he took office, suggested his fellow North Carolina Republican colleague has enormous potential.
“I want to see him be successful here. It is quite challenging to be a new member. It’s quite challenging to be a young member. It’s doubly challenging to be a young new member, as I’ve experienced a lot of others in this institution. But he has enormous potential to do great things. And we’re all pulling for him.”
