A month before the U.S. Capitol riot, Rep. Madison Cawthorn urged a crowd to “lightly threaten” their members of Congress.
The newly elected North Carolina Republican made the comments at an event for Turning Point USA in December, according to a report by the New York Times.
“Say: ‘If you don’t support election integrity, I’m coming after you. Madison Cawthorn’s coming after you. Everybody’s coming after you,'” the 25-year-old said, adding that attendees can “call your congressman and feel free — you can lightly threaten them.”
Since the deadly siege of the Capitol, Cawthorn has changed his rhetoric regarding claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
“Once you start floating this idea of election fraud and people outright stealing an election and cheating, that has only one outcome,” Cawthorn told WTVD of North Carolina on Tuesday. “The party as a whole should have been much more wise about their choice of words.”
Cawthorn spoke at the “Save America” pro-Trump rally last week prior to the violence that took place at the U.S. Capitol that left at least five people dead, including a Capitol Hill police officer.
Several Democrats in North Carolina have called for an investigation into Cawthorn, claiming he was responsible for helping to incite violence on Jan. 6.
In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, members of the Democratic Party of North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District cite Cawthorn’s tweets and speech at the rally as evidence of him encouraging violent activity.
“Mr. Cawthorn needs to held accountable for his seditious behavior and for the consequences resulting from said behavior,” the letter reads. “The voters of North Carolina deserve the truth from our elected officials. We will not tolerate misinformation, conspiracy theories, and lies from our Representatives.”
Cawthorn defended himself to WLOS of Asheville, saying he felt no responsibility for what occurred at the Capitol.
“I don’t feel I had any responsibility for them attacking the Capitol,” Cawthorn said. “It was despicable. They are thugs.”
In a tweet a day after the riot, Cawthorn wrote on Twitter that he “unequivocally denounced” the violence.
Cawthorn is the youngest member of Congress and currently holds the House seat representing North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District. His seat was previously held by White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
