Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) has become “unelectable” for making “all Republicans” look bad with his orgy, drug party comments, his primary challenger Michele Woodhouse said on the Todd Starnes Show Wednesday.
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Woodhouse told host Todd Starnes that Cawthorn hand-picked her as his successor for the district before he decided to move back after redistricting.
She said Cawthorn has “abandoned and disappointed” District 11 in North Carolina.
Even Republican leadership has “lost confidence” in Cawthorn after his claims, which he had to walk back later Wednesday.
“There’s a lot of different things that can happen. But I just told him he’s lost my trust. He’s going to have to earn it back,” McCarthy told reporters after being asked whether Cawthorn could face consequences for his actions, including losing his committee positions, Politico reported.
“I mean, he’s got a lot of members very upset.”
McCarthy said Cawthorn’s description of the cocaine incident was not the same as he described on the podcast. “He thinks he saw maybe a staffer in a parking garage maybe 100 yards away,” adding, “he doesn’t know what cocaine is,” Politico reported.
“It is just frustrating. There is no evidence behind his statements,” said McCarthy, who added his conversations with him are not over.
Rep Cawthorn’s bizarre decision-making makes him unelectable.
— Michele Woodhouse (@NC11_Woodhouse) March 31, 2022
And conservatives in WNC certainly will not want a Raleigh country club centrist politician
Michele V Woodhouse is the only America First candidate who can keep NC11 safe from Jasmine Ferrara.https://t.co/E1IPqiM2JB
The following is a rush transcript from The Todd Starnes Radio Show with North Carolina Republican congressional candidate Michele Woodhouse. Listen to the program live Monday – Friday from 12 p.m. until 3 p.m. Click here to listen to the full interview.
Starnes: [00:22:26] I want to go to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line here in our beautiful Liberty University Studios. Michelle Woodhouse, who, by the way, I have endorsed so full disclosure I, you know, support Michelle’s campaign. She is running in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District. Now this was Cawthorn’s district, but he left that district, and we’re going to have Michelle explain what’s going on here. But I thought, what better way to get a get a good peg on what people are thinking and the 11th Congressional District that had Michelle on the program. So Michelle, good to have you with us today. [00:22:56][30.5]
Woodhouse: [00:22:57] Good to be here, Todd. Thank you so much. [00:22:59][1.3]
Starnes: [00:22:59] All right. So some people somebody asked me this. Why would Republicans run against a sitting congressman, Madison Cawthorn? And you’ve got it. There’s a very good explanation here. [00:23:07][8.3]
Woodhouse: [00:23:09] Yeah, absolutely. As you as you spoke to, Congressman Cawthorn decided in the midst of the redistricting we had going on here in North Carolina, we picked up a congressional seat. And Congressman Cawthorn decided to make a move over to the Charlotte market, and he made this decision in early November, made a move over there and decided that’s where he was going to run. And he called me and asked me to step in and run as the America First conservative to fill the now open seat in the mountains of western North Carolina presented my name as his recommendation to President Trump down at Mar-a-Lago. And then, as the maps changed and Congressman Cawthorn realized he couldn’t win in the district he had moved to, he decided to move back to the mountains and run in his old congressional district. [00:23:55][46.5]
Starnes: [00:23:57] So, so he he asked you to jump into the race. He moves to what, Charlotte. A much bigger city. You guys are in western North Carolina, Charlotte, a much larger city. I suspect he was wanting to do that to raise his profile. And again, nothing wrong with that. And then when all that didn’t work out, he’s coming back and now he wants his old job back. [00:24:18][20.8]
Woodhouse: [00:24:19] Absolutely. [00:24:19][0.0]
Starnes: [00:24:20] Michele, I want to get your reaction to to the allegations that Madison Cawthorn shared in that podcast interview. [00:24:29][8.6]
Woodhouse: [00:24:30] You know, it’s just one of a series of bizarre comments and bizarre behavior that we’ve seen from Congressman Cawthorn really over the course of the last few months. And of course, we were shocked and alarmed to hear such allegations. And voters in western North Carolina are just bewildered by his pattern of behavior and comments. People, you know, should speak to western North Carolina. It is the God fearing, hard working, just salt of the Earth communities. I mean, this is where North Carolina begins and people are suffering and struggling under the failed policies of Joe Biden. We’ve got a crazy liberal coming out of Asheville who’s running on the Democrat side. And Congressman Cawthorn’s continued, bizarre behavior and comments have put us now in a situation where, if he were to somehow win this primary, the Democrats are going to take this seat. It will be a plus one and we’ll wake up in November and Nancy Pelosi will still be holding the gavel, which would be an absolute and utter nightmare. And his comments and behavior continue to tell people of western North Carolina, this is not someone that we can take seriously and we cannot send them back to Washington, D.C. [00:25:46][75.6]
Starnes: [00:25:46] You mentioned multiple times about comments and behavior. Give me some examples. What are you talking about? [00:25:51][4.9]
Woodhouse: [00:25:52] Well, I mean, we have these comments that just came out in this article. But you know, prior to that, multiple times being pulled over on a revoked driver’s license in western North Carolina and speeding – the knives, the guns really the headlines that distract from what he should be doing, which is doing good work to be able to make sure that the people of western North Carolina are served and taken care of because that’s what he was elected to do. He’s closed three constituent offices in western North Carolina, so the 700-plus thousand people in our congressional district have one office. Just to give people a point of reference, we have 15 counties, and when Congressman Charles Taylor was in office, he had 17 congressional offices to serve the people of western North Carolina, and Congressman Cawthorn has one. [00:26:46][54.0]
Starnes: [00:26:48] What does that tell you? [00:26:49][0.8]
Woodhouse: [00:26:50] Well, it tells me he doesn’t take the job seriously. It tells me that we’ve got to send out of this primary a strong, bold conservative who will stay true to a faith-driven, constitutionally-driven platform and the person who can beat the liberal coming out of this of the left and. And he continues to put himself in a situation where he’s become unelectable and the seat is at risk, which is why we have been so steadfast in staying in this race, making sure that we are letting the voters of western North Carolina know you’ve got a strong Christian America First conservative in Michelle Woodhouse that’s running who will never forsake her duties to you as a member of Congress, will always be offering exceptional constituent services and won’t be involved in headlines like this one and others that he’s been involved with that really are an embarrassment, not only nationally but a true embarrassment to those of us in western North Carolina. [00:27:52][62.4]
Starnes: [00:27:52] And Michelle, again, full disclosure on this program, after Cawthorn announced he was going to be running, I endorsed you. You have invited me to speak your chairperson of the Republican Party there in that district. And and again, I think that’s important for people to know. So you can factor all that into our conversation here. Michelle, one of the things the congressman has said in the past is that, well, these are youthful indiscretions. I’m what, 26 years old when you hear that excuse or that explanation, how do you respond to that? [00:28:25][32.9]
Woodhouse: [00:28:27] Well, I think he used, can excuse one or two things, but when we see a pattern of behavior, it speaks to character. It speaks to discernment and decision making. I’m often brought back to the song that we all sang going to Vacation Bible School as kids. This is the difference between having an adult whose house is built on the rock and someone whose house is built on sand. And I think we’re continuing to see over and over with Congressman Castle. His house is built on sand. There’s no firm foundation in his decision making, and we have 18 year olds that are enlisting and fighting for our country. So when a 26 year old continues to use the excuse of youth, it becomes to me just that an excuse. This is about character and maturity and taking your role seriously as a member of Congress there to represent the people of western North Carolina who sent you there, who are struggling with $4 a gallon gas, 30-year inflation. The failures of the Biden administration, our neighbors, my communities are hurting. And Congressman Cawthorn, continuing to have a cavalier attitude of excuses is why we cannot. We’ve got to make sure we have to make sure in western North Carolina that we send a true conservative out of this primary and make sure that a Republican holds the seat. [00:29:48][80.4]
Starnes: [00:29:48] Do you believe that voters got snookered? [00:29:50][2.0]
Woodhouse: [00:29:53] Yeah, you know, I don’t. I don’t know. It’s a great question. I really do think we all had such high hopes. Me included for Congressman Cawthorn, I was a big supporter of him, and I think we all had incredibly high hopes and we’re just utterly disappointed. He’s abandoned and disappointed the district and when when he won in 2020, many of us really saw him as David. It was a David and Goliath story. But what he’s proven to be is really the rich young ruler. [00:30:27][34.3]
Starnes: [00:30:29] Wow, it’s I will say that it’s it’s a lesson for the rest of the country that we’ve got to make sure we’re doing a good job vetting people and really making sure we are sending people to Washington. I know it’s not. It sounds, you know, you want the cool, hip, young, whatever. But the reality is we need people who are seasoned. We need people who are rock solid in their beliefs. And and Michelle, to your point twenty six years old. Yeah, there are a lot of people that are already in their careers. They’re married, they have kids, they’re paying a mortgage and they are, you know, they’re not out there, you know, doing crazy stuff. I want to ask you real quick. The the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, Scott Perry, coming out and saying, You know what? He’s going to name names if you’re going to make these kinds of accusations. This puts a big target on every single Republican name. The names, what? What say you? [00:31:20][50.9]
Woodhouse: [00:31:21] I agree. I agree, if you are going to put this out, is this a publicity stunt by Congressman Cawthorn and yet another one? Or is if you’re speaking truth, then you need to absolutely name names because it makes all Republicans, all conservatives look bad. [00:31:41][20.0]
Starnes: [00:31:42] It does. All right, Michelle, we’ve got links to your web site on our live show blog. We appreciate you coming on the program. It’s a disturbing situation and this this will be a cloud hanging over the midterms if this is not cleared up very quickly. You know how the media is going to behave on this kind of stuff? [00:31:58][16.7]
Woodhouse: [00:31:59] Absolutely right. And I am so grateful for your support and endorsement and really honored to have time on the show. I look forward to seeing at the end of April in Memphis. [00:32:08][9.0]
Starnes: [00:32:09] Absolutely will. We’ll tell folks more about that in the coming days. Michele Woodhouse, everybody running for Congress and what a crazy story that turned out to be where Madison Cawthorn announced he was going to run in a new district. He he passes the mantle to Michelle Woodhouse. Then he decides to come back. That’s sort of I don’t. Are we allowed to say Indian giver? No, I don’t think we can. Oh no, I’m being told by we cannot I’d say Indian giver. My apologies. [00:32:36][27.5]