Madison Cawthorn, a rising Republican star, was elected as the youngest member of Congress and celebrated with the tweet 'Cry more, lib'

At the age of 25, Madison Cawthorn will become the youngest member of Congress after winning his House race in North Carolina on Tuesday.

Cawthorn defeated the Democrat Moe Davis, a 62-year-old retired Air Force colonel, in the state's 11th Congressional District on Tuesday.

Cawthorn turned 25 — the minimum age to serve in the House — in August.

He is not only the youngest Republican ever elected to Congress but the youngest person of any party elected in more than 50 years.

Source: Business Insider

Cawthorn is pro-Trump, anti-abortion-rights, and pro-Second Amendment and has been tagged as a rising star in the GOP. He had a primetime speaking slot at the Republican National Convention in August.

Source: Business Insider

 

 

Cawthorn was homeschooled in Hendersonville, North Carolina. He had planned to serve in the Navy and was nominated to the United States Naval Academy in 2014 by Rep. Mark Meadows.

Source: ABC News

But that year Cawthorn was in a car crash while returning from a spring-break trip in Florida with his friends.

Source: Cawthorn's campaign

Cawthorn's friend fell asleep while driving an SUV and crashed into a concrete barrier, causing the SUV to burst into flames. The injuries left Cawthorn partially paralyzed, and he now uses a wheelchair.

Cawthorn accrued $3 million in medical debt during his recovery.

Source: Cawthorn's campaign

During his campaign, Cawthorn said the crash derailed his dreams of attending the Naval Academy.

Source: ABC 13 News

But a local news report in August found that the academy had actually rejected him before the crash.

"I never said I was appointed or accepted to the academy, I knew that I'd only been nominated at that point," Cawthorn told ABC 13 News.

"I fully expected to be accepted and to be appointed, but at that point I hadn't received it," he added. "So I've been very careful never to mischaracterize who I am as a person."

Cawthorn became an investor and motivational speaker, quickly gaining a massive following on social media.

Source: Business Insider

In June, Cawthorn made headlines when he defeated Lynda Bennett, who had been endorsed by President Donald Trump, by over 30 points in the Republican primary.

 

Earlier this year, Cawthorn was scrutinized over old posts on social media in which he referred to Hitler as "the Fuhrer" and said that visiting Hitler's vacation home in Germany had been on his "bucket list" and "did not disappoint."

Source: New York Times

In August, several women came forward to accuse Cawthorn of sexual misconduct and sexual assault. One woman accused Cawthorn of pressuring her into sitting on his lap before trying to kiss her forcefully.

Source: Asheville Citizen Times

In October, alumni of Patrick Henry College, where Cawthorn studied briefly in 2016, published a letter accusing him of engaging in "predatory behavior."

The letter was signed by more than 150 Patrick Henry alumni.

In response to the letter, Cawthorn said most of the signers did not know him personally.

Source: Jezebel

Last month, Cawthorn admitted that he created a website attacking a journalist for working "for non-white males, like Cory Booker, who aims to ruin white males running for office."

In an archived version of the website, which was first reported by The Bulwark, Cawthorn went after Tom Fiedler, a journalist who has been covering the campaign for a nonprofit website.

Fiedler, "who works with Moe Davis' advocates, is working to tear down Madison Cawthorn," the archived version says. "He quit his academia job in Boston to work for non-white males, like Cory Booker, who aims to ruin white males running for office."

"The syntax of our language was unclear and unfairly implied I was criticizing Cory Booker," Cawthorn told The New York Times.

Source: Business Insider

Once sworn in on January 6, Cawthorn will be the youngest member of Congress — younger than Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 31, who previously held that title.

Reacting to his historic victory on Tuesday, Cawthorn tweeted, "Cry more, lib."

—Madison Cawthorn (@CawthornforNC) November 4, 2020