Timeline of Madison Cawthorn controversies

Rep. Madison Cawthorn ( R-N.C.) has been a lightning rod for controversy.

The 26-year-old freshman lawmaker, who was elected to represent North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives to fill the vacant seat left by White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in 2020, has been at the center of a series of scandals in the lead-up to his primary on May 17.

This year alone, he has alleged to have been invited to orgies in Washington and said he saw people do cocaine, prompting a stern rebuke from senior House Republicans. He’s been cited for bringing a firearm to a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint in Charlotte and called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “thug” and the Ukrainian government “evil” in a video. And Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Wednesday called for a House Ethics Committee investigation into Cawthorn over allegations of insider trading.