Madison Cawthorn
Born Name: David Madison Cawthorn
Date of Birth: August 1, 1995
Place of Birth: Asheville, North Carolina, United States
Political party: Republican
Domestic partner: Cristina Bayardelle (engaged)
Website: madisoncawthorn.com
David Madison Cawthorn (born August 1, 1995) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, Cawthorn is the Republican nominee for North Carolina's 11th congressional district in the 2020 elections, after winning the primary in June.

Early life and education
Cawthorn was born on August 1, 1995, in Asheville, North Carolina to Priscilla and Roger Cawthorn. He was home-schooled in Hendersonville, North Carolina. As a teenager, he worked at a Chick-fil-A restaurant.

U.S. Representative Mark Meadows nominated Cawthorn to the United States Naval Academy in 2014, but his application was rejected before his 2014 car accident (despite Cawthorn having previously claimed in his congressional campaign that his accident "derailed" his plans to attend the Academy). Cawthorn subsequently said that of the time of the injury, he knew only that he had been nominated to the academy and that he had expected to be accepted, and added that he never said that he had been accepted to the academy before the accident took place. Some sources report that Cawthorn later received a Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship from the United States Marine Corps to North Carolina State University, but he questioned that assertion in a 2017 deposition.

Car accident and paralysis
In 2014, at age 18, Cawthorn was injured while returning from a spring break trip in Florida. He was a passenger in an SUV on Interstate 4 near Daytona Beach when his friend fell asleep at the wheel and the SUV crashed into a concrete barrier. The injuries left Cawthorn partially paralyzed, and he now uses a wheelchair. He accrued $3 million in medical debt during his recovery. His friend's insurance company offered him $3 million to cover his medical treatment, but Cawthorn sued the company for $30 million. A judge later ruled in the insurer's favor. After the accident, he was employed as a staff assistant in Meadows's district office.

Cawthorn attended Patrick Henry College during the fall 2016 semester to study political science. He dropped out at the end of the semester.

Career
Cawthorn is the chief executive officer of SPQR Holdings, LLC, a real estate investment firm in Hendersonville. The firm was created in August 2019, reported no income, and he is its sole employee.

Congressional campaign
In the June 2020 Republican primary for North Carolina's 11th congressional district, Cawthorn defeated Lynda Bennett, who had been endorsed both by President Donald Trump and Cawthorn's former mentor, Meadows, who is now White House Chief of Staff. Cawthorn gained the support of many local leaders and was endorsed by Mark Walker, the vice chairman of the House Republican Conference. His victory has been called an upset.

If elected, Cawthorn will be the youngest Republican and one of the youngest members ever elected to the House of Representatives. He has said that he would "like to be the face of the Republican Party when it comes to health care."

In 2017 Cawthorn posted an Instagram picture of his visit to Hitler's vacation residence Eagle's Nest, which he said had been on his "bucket list for awhile". In the post he called Hitler Führer, a German term of reverence meaning "leader", and the site "supreme evil". This led to criticism and allegations of far-right sympathies. In response, Cawthorn denied that he has affinities for white supremacists, calling that ridiculous, and said he "completely and wholeheartedly denounce[s] any kind of white nationalism, any kind of Nazism". The Anti-Defamation League's analyst Mark Pitcavage said he did not see much merit in the accusations against Cawthorn. Some Jewish residents of his congressional district expressed concern about the incident, including Esther Manheimer, mayor of Asheville, the district’s largest city.

Cawthorn will speak on the third day of the 2020 Republican National Convention.

Personal life
Cawthorn describes himself as a Christian and a constitutional conservative. He is engaged to Cristina Bayardelle, a college student and competitive CrossFit athlete. He has an older brother, Zachary.

Sexual misconduct allegations
In August 2020, amid his campaign for congress, several women came forward accusing Cawthorn of sexually aggressive behavior, sexual misconduct, and sexual assault. Katrina Krulikas described an incident when she was 17 and Cawthorn was 19 in which Cawthorn attempted to kiss her twice which she resisted. Cawthorn stated, "I did try and kiss her just very normal, just in a flirtatious way" adding that “If I did make her feel unsafe, I feel bad”, but questioned the timing of the coming out of the story.

News article is edited by: soni - 4-11-2021, 07:09