House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy reportedly says he will talk with Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) about allegations he made last week accusing unnamed lawmakers of having cocaine-fueled orgies. McCarthy’s motivation does not appear to be to investigate the accusations but comes in response to other House Republicans reportedly “upset” Tuesday morning at a caucus meeting that the North Carolina freshman congressman made the claims, and saying they do not believe him.
“Multiple sources tell me Leader Kevin McCarthy says he plans to talk to freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn over his orgy remarks,” Politico’s Olivia Beavers reports via Twitter. “Told several House Rs stood up who were upset. They said it wasn’t ok, they don’t believe it, etc.”
Last week on a podcast Cawthorn said, “I look at all these people, a lot of them that I’ve looked up to through my life, I’ve always paid attention to politics,” according to The Hill.
“Then all of the sudden you get invited to, ‘Well hey, we’re going to have kind of a sexual get together at one of our homes, you should come.’”
“I’m like, ‘What did you just ask me to come to?’” Cawthorn added. “And then you realize they are asking you to come to an orgy.
Cawthorn did not name names, but presumably since he says he’s “looked up to” these people throughout his life they are more likely to be Republicans than Democrats.
Beavers adds she heard that “Rep. Steve Womack stood up, said he hardly ever stands to talk, he has to say something about this [because] now he is getting [questions] about which members partaking in orgies after Cawthorn suggested they are happening in DC along w/ the use of cocaine.”
She also reports Rep. Cawthorn was not at the meeting.
McCarthy has a history of waiting to talk to other extremist elements of his caucus about disturbing and offensive remarks they have made, including antisemitic remarks.
Cawthorn’s remarks are in the second half of this short clip: