Lib blue-checks are pretty psyched right now after POLITICO published these “exclusive” photos of GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn dressed in women’s lingerie in a public setting:
Exclusive: Madison Cawthorn photos reveal him wearing women’s lingerie in public setting – POLITICO https://t.co/M76B3EJqjJ
— Jacob Rubashkin (@JacobRubashkin) April 22, 2022
From POLITICO:
Photographs obtained by POLITICO appear to show Madison Cawthorn, the embattled Republican congressman from North Carolina who recently accused his GOP colleagues of inviting him to orgies, wearing lingerie in what appears to be a party setting.
Cawthorn, 26, was raised in a conservative Baptist community in Henderson County, North Carolina, and has staked his political persona on arch-traditional Christian principles and the insistence of the importance of a kind of hypermasculinity. His comments about “the sexual perversion” in Washington made on a podcast, which he later admitted were exaggerated, drew the public disapproval and disavowal of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as well as other Republican leaders including those in his North Carolina congressional caucus.
Apparently, the photos were provided to POLITICO by a “person formerly close to Cawthorn and his campaign”:
MORE: “[The photos] were provided to POLITICO by a person formerly close to Cawthorn and his campaign. A second person formerly close to Cawthorn and his campaign confirmed the origin of the photos.”https://t.co/DRooN5cAxD
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) April 22, 2022
Cawthorn does face multiple challengers in the upcoming primary:
May come up in the GQP primary.
Exclusive: Madison Cawthorn photos reveal him wearing women’s lingerie in public setting https://t.co/fqns2n0CBs via @politico— Richard Signorelli (@richsignorelli) April 22, 2022
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Cawthorn’s spox reportedly didn’t respond to POLITICO ahead of the article’s publication, but he just tweeted that these were “goofy vacation photos” from the very popular Quest game show on a Royal Caribbean cruise he went on before becoming a congressman:
I guess the left thinks goofy vacation photos during a game on a cruise (taken waaay before I ran for Congress) is going to somehow hurt me?
They're running out of things to throw at me…
Share your most embarrassing vacay pics in the replies🤦♂️https://t.co/YicRk0Albu
— Madison Cawthorn (@CawthornforNC) April 22, 2022
The show is really one of the more fun events on a Royal Caribbean ship (Yes, this editor has been to this show, too). From Cruise Critic:
Quest is uproariously fun, supremely competitive, and it’s definitely for adults only, which is why it’s often scheduled after 11 p.m. Many cruise lines have a version of the Quest “scavenger hunt,” so check out your daily cruise planner to see when it’s scheduled. While Quest might be the worst-kept secret in cruising, some people believe that (much like Fight Club) it shouldn’t be discussed — so read on only if you don’t mind spoilers.
Politico, you’re a “garbage outlet”:
The context of those Madison Cawthorne pictures is him playing a game on a cruise ship years ago. This is not a scandal, nor does it reveal anything about him.
It does reveal that Politico remains a garbage outlet, though. They knew the context and chose to withhold it.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) April 22, 2022
“This is a big miss from POLITICO”:
This is a big miss from POLITICO given Rep Cawthorn’s explanation and the article he linked to about the cruise ship game. They basically accuse him of being a hypocrite and a bad Christian. pic.twitter.com/ED2oBduX8x
— Amber Athey (@amber_athey) April 22, 2022
Do better, Politico:
I’d expect to see these photos in a tabloid because they’re a bit embarrassing but a news outlet running them with seemingly no attempt to find out when/where they were taken is a bad look.
— Amber Athey (@amber_athey) April 22, 2022
It’s a total “nothingburger”;
Cawthorn says the photos of him in lingerie were taken at an event on a cruise ship. The logo in the background matches. Seems like a nothingburger, even on the "hypocrisy" front. https://t.co/cDILiDsMnS
— Angus Johnston (@studentactivism) April 22, 2022
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