(The Hill) — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Wednesday said Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s (R-N.C.) allegations of being invited to orgies and seeing people do cocaine were unfounded and that he would not rule out further disciplinary action for the 26-year-old freshman member.
“He’s got to turn himself around,” McCarthy told reporters, addressing a meeting he had with Cawthorn that morning.
Cawthorn frustrated GOP colleagues after he appeared on the “Warrior Poet Society” podcast last week and said that racy elements of the Netflix television drama “House of Cards” are not far from reality.
“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’ … You realize they are asking you to come to an orgy,” Cawthorn said. He added that he has seen people who advocate against addiction doing “key bumps of cocaine.”
McCarthy said Cawthorn gave him no evidence to back up that characterization. The explanation for the cocaine allegation was that, “He thinks he saw maybe a staffer in the parking garage from 100 yards away.”
“This is unacceptable, there’s no evidence to this,” McCarthy said. “That’s not becoming of a congressman. He did not tell the truth.”
The Republican leader mentioned a number of other recent statements and actions from Cawthorn that he found unbecoming of a member of Congress.
Earlier this month, Cawthorn called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “thug,” which McCarthy had previously said was “wrong.” Cawthorn also likely broke House rules when he brought Tennessee Republican House candidate Robby Starbuck onto the House floor in February. And he was recently charged for driving with a revoked license, as well as for speeding in two different counties.
Asked if Cawthorn could face penalties from the House Republican conference such as being removed from his committee posts, McCarthy said that there are “a lot of different things that could happen.”
“He’s lost my trust, and he’s gonna have to earn it back,” McCarthy said. “You can’t just say, ‘You can’t do this again.’ I mean, he’s got — he’s got a lot of members very upset. He can’t just make statements.”
McCarthy’s discussion with Cawthorn came after members complained about his most recent comments in a House GOP Conference meeting on Tuesday. Members said that Cawthorn prompted questions about whether they were participating in those activities, and that the 26-year-old needs to provide evidence if he makes those kinds of public allegations. Cawthorn was not in attendance at the meeting, having stayed in his district due to a wildfire.
Both Republican North Carolina senators also expressed frustration with Cawthorn. Sen. Richard Burr told NBC News that Cawthorn has “been an embarrassment at times.” Sen. Tom Tillis told CNN that the orgy comment was the latest “silly statement” from Cawthorn, and that he has accomplished “not a lot” for his district.
Cawthorn declined to answer additional questions from reporters on Wednesday.