Kevin McCarthy Says Madison Cawthorn Admitted He Exaggerated Claims About Cocaine and Orgies: He ‘Lost My Trust’

Jackson RichmanMar 30th, 2022, 3:49 pm
 

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday that Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) has lost his trust and needs to “turn himself around” after meeting with the freshman member of Congress over his claims about being invited to “orgies” and witnessing leaders doing cocaine “right in front” of him.

McCarthy also reportedly said that Cawthorn admitted he exaggerated his claims about sex and drugs in Washington D.C.

“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, according to Politico’s Olivia Beavers. “I mean, he’s got a lot of members very upset.”

“You can’t just make statements out there,” added McCarthy, who mentioned that Cawthorn could be stripped of his committee assignments. Cawthorn sits on the House Education and Labor Committee and the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

“This is unacceptable. There’s no evidence to this,” said McCarthy, according to Axios’ Alayna Treene. “He changes what he tells and that’s not becoming of a Congressman. He did not tell the truth … that’s unacceptable.”

“In the interview, he claims he watched people do cocaine. Then when he comes in he tells me, he says he thinks he saw maybe a staffer in a parking garage from 100 yards away,” McCarthy said, according to Treene.

“It’s just frustrating. There’s no evidence behind his statements,” he said. “I told him you can’t make statements like that, as a member of Congress, that affects everybody else and the country as a whole.”

“The Constitution gives you the age when you can serve in Congress,” he said. “But when you’re in Congress, you should respect the institution and you should focus on the work that you should do.”

McCarthy did not rule out future meetings with Cawthorn.

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