New GOP Congressman Under Fire After Bragging He’s Tried to Convert Jews to Christianity But ‘They Are Very Difficult’

GOP congressman-elect Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina has quickly made a name for himself in many ways. At 25, he’s just become one of the youngest Americans ever elected to Congress.

During the campaign Cawthorn was accused of being anti-Semitic and supportive of Adolf Hitler after an Instagram post was uncovered showing not only has he visited “The vacation house of the Führer,” as he wrote, in Germany, but he gloated about it, saying it had been on his bucket list.

Now Cawthorn is once again under fire, and unsurprisingly it’s about comments he made about Jewish people in an interview with Jewish Insider.

A devout Christian, Cawthorn bragged that he personally has tried to convert Jews to Christianity. He confessed that while he has been successful converting “a lot” of Jews, but not those who are devout.

He seems to believe, as Jewish Insider reports, that it is his duty as a Christian to convert as many people as possible. He also suggests that “culturally Jewish people” are not real Jews.

Cawthorn says he tried “unsuccessfully” to convert Jews but then adds, “I have switched a lot of, uh, you know, I guess, culturally Jewish people.”

“But being a practicing Jew, like, people who are religious about it, they are very difficult. I’ve had a hard time connecting with them in that way.”

Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel writes, “Cawthorn expressed a similar sentiment during a July 2019 sermon at a church in Highlands, North Carolina.

“If you have Jewish blood running through your veins today,” he told the crowd, mulling on a chapter from the Gospel of Mark, “this might not mean as much to you, but for someone like me, who’s a gentile, this means a lot.”

He’s once again under fire.

“[Muslims] believe Jesus is a real person,” he said. “But being a practicing Jew, like, people who are religious about it, they are very difficult. I’ve had a hard time connecting with them in that way.” Here’s an idea: leave us alone!https://t.co/L6M5sRfQGp

— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) November 16, 2020

“If you have Jewish blood running through your veins today…” let me stop you right there https://t.co/QSTdgYJHOy

— Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) November 16, 2020

In my role as “speaking for the goyim” at the moment: WHAT THE HELL?

Later he talks about “if you have Jewish blood running through your veins.” Percentage of sentences that start that way, and have ever ended well …. [nil]

— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) November 16, 2020

Republican Congressman Cawthorn: “If you have Jewish blood running through your veins …” is an actual statement he said in an interview with an explicitly Jewish magazine.

— David Rothschild (@DavMicRot) November 16, 2020

in a certain sense there’s nothing here that *isn’t* a tell but the phrase “Jewish blood running through your veins” is the tell of all Nazi tells https://t.co/0qSqeRScfn

— Michael Caley (@MC_of_A) November 16, 2020

Wait, you are telling me that someone who had a great time visiting Hitler’s vacation spot also talks about “Jewish blood running through your veins”? Mind. Blown. https://t.co/PQkdcYo6CW

— Zachary Lesser (@ZacharyLesser) November 16, 2020

He’s just an “awe shucks” kind of NAZI. https://t.co/tXkQP58Czg

— Boston Grandpa Georgia On My Mind (@Boston_Grandpa) November 16, 2020

Not at all creepy, dude —-> “If you have Jewish blood running through your veins today, this might not mean as much to you, but for someone like me, who’s a gentile, this means a lot,” he said. https://t.co/0zuoPQ9iHP

— Jonathan Evans (@jon2bad) November 16, 2020

I’ve had a lot of people try to tell me that Rep. Ilhan Omar is anti-Semitic (she’s not). You know one thing she’s never said? The phrase: “Jewish blood running through your veins.” Maybe we can spend more time on this guy instead?https://t.co/lFyN9iyWcz

— David Jacobs (@jacobsfdavid) November 16, 2020

The “Jewish blood running through your veins” line he’s said is straight-up Nazism.

— Josh | Heir to Revolutionary Michael Easter II (@TheJoshHill3) November 16, 2020

The future of the Republican Party is increasingly explicit fascism. https://t.co/fQEHmpU2UC

— Max Berger (@maxberger) November 16, 2020