During a men’s club meeting, western North Carolina congressman Madison Cawthorn didn’t walk back his “thug” comment about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, instead repeating his claim that Ukraine is “one of the most corrupt countries”.
“Remember that Zelensky is a thug,” Mr Cawthorn told supporters earlier this month, a video obtained by WRAL shows. “Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and is incredibly evil and has been pushing woke ideologies.”
But Mr Cawthorn did note during the Henderson County Republican Men’s Club meeting on 19 March that Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t on the same level as Mr Zelensky, the Asheville Citizen Times reported.
“There is definitely one aggressor here,” he told the paper, adding that Mr Putin was behaving as if he was “demonically possessed”.
Mr Cawthorn told the Citizen Times that Mr Putin “illegally and immorally invaded Ukraine”. He declined to brand Mr Putin a war criminal, saying that he needed a deeper understanding of the legal definition.
President Joe Biden has called Mr Putin a war criminal following Russian bombings leading to the deaths of Ukrainian civilians.
Mr Cawthorn said he supported sending weapons capable of taking down Russian military planes to Ukraine.
State Senator Chuck Edwards, a fellow Republican, is running against Mr Cawthorn in the 11th District.
He agreed that the area needs “a fighter” representing them in Washington DC, but noted to the Citizen Times that there are two types – “those that are full of words that just whip up crowds that are seeking to gain a political career and increase their Instagram following and there are fighters like me, that have actually gotten things done in government”.
“Sometimes I get attacked for my social media following. Sometimes I get attacked because I spend about 10 per cent of my time not in the District or not in Washington, DC, but going around the country to save my generation from communism and from socialism,” Mr Cawthorn said, according to the local paper.
He added that he “knew he was doing his job” when he’s being criticised by the media “because they have a communist agenda”.
When reached by The Independent earlier this month, Mr Cawthorn’s Communications Director Luke Ball pointed to Twitter statements that “explains what his point” was when he called Mr Zelensky a “thug”.
“Propaganda is being used to entice America into another war,” Mr Cawthorn tweeted. “I do not want Americans dying because emotions pushed us into a conflict.”
“The actions of Putin and Russia are disgusting. But leaders, including Zelensky, should NOT push misinformation on America,” he added. “I am praying for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Pray also we are not drawn into conflict based on foreign leaders pushing misinformation.”
Mr Cawthorn linked to a Substack post by Pedro Gonzalez, who wrote that “Ukrainian misinformation is pointed largely at the West, with outright propaganda promoted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky himself. Ukraine’s efforts are designed to bring the United States and NATO into the war. Sometimes it is subtle; other times, it is as unsubtle as a hammer hitting an anvil”.
Alyssa Farah Griffin, who served as the White House director of strategic communications under former President Donald Trump, tweeted, “I try not to criticize Madison because he’s my former intern and I think he genuinely doesn’t know how little he knows. But this is disgraceful and not how a sitting lawmaker should speak about a US ally. [Mr Cawthorn] is echoing Russian propaganda”.
Democratic Arizona Representative Ruben Gallego tweeted that it’s “disturbing that he sits in our classified briefings on [the Russia–Ukraine war]. Not sure now that is a good idea”.
Former Republican congressman Joe Walsh tweeted that Mr Cawthorn “is not alone in supporting Putin. Hell, the leader of the GOP supports Putin. The anti-democracy, pro-authoritarian wing of the GOP is not fringe. Not fringe at all. It’s alive and well and growing”.
Conservative commentator Bill Kristol, who served as Chief of Staff to Republican Vice President Dan Quayle, tweeted, “about [Mr Cawthorn] one really has to say: In the confederacy of Trumpist lowlifes, he’s the lowest. In the confederacy of Trumpist lowlifes, he’s the lowest”.
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