'Cawthorn has fallen well short': GOP leaders criticize congressman, weigh in on NC11 race

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — As Representative Madison Cawthorn continues to spark controversy, GOP heavyweights from D.C. to Raleigh are weighing in on the race for North Carolina's 11th Congressional District.

In his latest round of contentious comments, Rep. Cawthorn was recorded on a podcast claiming that some of his political peers in Washington D.C. participated in orgies and drug use.

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The comments led House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise to speak to the representative behind closed doors.

"I just told him he's lost my trust. He's going to have to earn it back," Rep. McCarthy said of the meeting with Cawthorn. "And, I laid out to everything that I find is unbecoming. And should, you can't just say, 'You can't do this again.' I mean, he, he's, he's got, he's got a lot of members very upset."

McCarthy added that Cawthorn admitted in their meeting that his allegations were untrue or exaggerated.

In recent days, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), have also expressed criticism of the freshman congressman.

"It comes down to focus on the district, producing results for the district, and in my opinion, Mr. Cawthorn hasn't demonstrated much in the way of results over the last 18 months," Tillis told CNN.

On Thursday, March 31, Tillis released a statement announcing his endorsement of State Senator Chuck Edwards (R-District 48), who is vying for Rep. Cawthorn's seat in NC 11.

Below is Sen. Tillis' complete statement on his endorsement of Sen. Edwards:

"The 11th Congressional District deserves a congressman who is fully dedicated to serving their constituents. Unfortunately, Madison Cawthorn has fallen well short of the most basic standards Western North Carolina expects from their representatives, and voters now have several well-qualified candidates to choose from who would be a significant improvement. I believe Chuck Edwards is the best choice.

Chuck Edwards will always put his constituents first. He'll never turn his back on Western North Carolina or abandon his constituents for the sake of political expediency.

Chuck Edwards has proven he's a hardworking conservative leader who delivers conservative results. He'll never give up on his day job in search of celebrity status in Washington, D.C., with no record of results to speak of.

Chuck Edwards will always fight for Mountain Values. He'll never attack Ukraine's fight for freedom or vote against sanctioning Putin's Russia and find himself being used as propaganda on Russian state television.

Chuck Edwards has demonstrated he serves with honor and integrity, and he always makes conservatives proud. He'll never embarrass Western North Carolina with a consistent pattern of juvenile behavior, outlandish statements, and untruthfulness.

I hope other Republicans will join me in support of Chuck Edwards to ensure the 11th District has a representative who will deliver results and bring honor, integrity, and truthfulness to Congress."

Sen. Richard Burr told CNN he won't be getting involved in Cawthorn's primary, which is coming up on May 17 but added: "On any given day, he's an embarrassment."

At the state level, we're also getting a better idea of who legislative leaders are throwing their weight behind in the race for N.C.'s 11th Congressional seat.

On Thursday, March 31, Sen. Edwards confirmed to News 13 that Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore were headlining a private fundraiser for him that day.

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That event was planned before Cawthorn's orgy and drug use comments surfaced, but Dr. Chris Cooper, Madison Distinguished Professor of Political Science & Public Affairs and director of the Public Policy Institute at Western Carolina University, emphasized those certainly weren't his first controversial words, especially against established GOP politicians.

"This has been building for a while," Cooper said. "The attention is on these last comments, but this is not happening in a vacuum. This is happening after a very slow build."

Dr. Cooper added the fact that big-name GOP leaders are backing an opponent of Cawthorn reveals an increasingly divided Republican party.

"He's attacked establishment members of his own party not from the beginning, but certainly for a long time now, and I think the effect of that over time, it just builds up, and I think we've seen this," Dr. Cooper said. "There is a clear division in the 11th, between not just the establishment Republicans, but the politically active Republicans, the folks who have run for office before, the folks who have served in the General Assembly. They seem to be almost completely united against Cawthorn or for another Republican candidate."

Rep. Cawthorn's words are obviously affecting how his political peers view him, but will they influence voters' decisions at the polls? That remains to be seen.

"Is this breaking through to them? And I don't think anybody really has an answer to that question yet," Dr. Cooper said.

Dr. Cooper said growing endorsements of Cawthorn's opponents surely will affect campaign donations, though.

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"Having a Thom Tillis, a Phil Berger, a Tim Moore, come and say, 'This is our candidate,' that tells the people with means, the people that donate money, the donor class, that Chuck Edwards is the one they need to get behind," Dr. Cooper said.

Dr. Cooper said the more division Rep. Cawthorn sparks, which has become his brand, the more likely we are to see more endorsements of other candidates in an already crowded GOP field.

"This is his brand. He's cultivated it over the last year and a half. The question is -- has he gone too far?" Dr. Cooper said.

Dr. Cooper said he thinks Cawthorn's penchant for stirring up controversy and the responses it's eliciting, means we are less likely to see a definitive result in the GOP primary on May 17.

"The messy field, I think, absolutely makes it more likely we're going to have a runoff and more likely we're going to be having this conversation after the May primary," Dr. Cooper said.

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According to the N.C. State Board of Elections, a second primary will occur if no primary candidate meets the 30% threshold of votes to avoid a possible runoff, and the candidate with the second-highest number of votes demands one.

News 13 reached out to Luke Ball, the spokesperson for Rep. Cawthorn, for an interview, or at the very least, a comment, and has not yet heard back.