David Madison Cawthorn (born August 1, 1995) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 11th congressional district from 2021 to 2023.

[3] His tenure was marked by various controversies, including allegations of insider trading, improper payments, bringing a handgun to an airport, and appearing in a leaked nude video.

He was riding as a passenger in a BMW X3 SUV near Daytona Beach, Florida, when his friend Bradley Ledford fell asleep at the wheel.

"[21] During the fall 2016 semester, Cawthorn attended Patrick Henry College, studying political science, but earned mostly D grades and dropped out.

[26] In the March 2020 Republican primary for North Carolina's 11th congressional district, Cawthorn finished second behind Lynda Bennett, who had been endorsed both by President Donald Trump and Meadows, who had become White House Chief of Staff.

[29] He was supported by many local leaders and endorsed by Mark Walker, the vice chairman of the House Republican Conference.

[11] During the 2020 general campaign, his Democratic opponent drew attention to a 2017 Cawthorn Instagram post with a picture of his visit to Adolf Hitler's vacation residence Eagle's Nest, which he said had been on his "bucket list for a while",[33][34][35] generating allegations of far-right sympathies.

[51] On May 17, 2022, Cawthorn was defeated by Republican primary challenger Chuck Edwards, a state senator and fellow Henderson County resident, by a margin of 33.4–31.9%.

The challenge is based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits anyone who has "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the U.S. government from holding public office.

[59][60] Cawthorn filed suit in the Eastern North Carolina U.S. District Court to dismiss the challenge before the state elections board could hear it.

[66][67] The Washington Post reported that during his candidacy and time in Congress, Cawthorn became known for incendiary rhetoric and for promulgating conspiracy theories.

[76] On January 20, the day of Joe Biden's inauguration, Cawthorn was one of 17 newly elected House Republicans to sign a letter congratulating him and expressing hope of bipartisan cooperation.

He then said, "as much as I am willing to defend our liberty at all costs, there is nothing that I would dread doing more than having to pick up arms against a fellow American", with the only way to prevent that being "election security".

[84] In October 2021, Cawthorn said, "our culture today is trying to completely de-masculate [sic] all of the young men", because "they don't want people who are going to stand up".

[85] In November 2021, Cawthorn accused politicians of "trying to make everyone genderless, sexless, and just absolutely Godless", and declared that Americans "want our culture back, and if you want to stand in the way of that, we will run you over.

Alyssa Farah Griffin, for whom Cawthorn once interned, condemned his comments as based on ignorance and spreading Russian propaganda.

[89] In a March 2022 interview, Cawthorn talked about "the sexual perversion that goes on in Washington" and said he had been invited to an orgy by an unnamed lawmaker.

[91] McCarthy later told reporters that Cawthorn had admitted his claims were exaggerated or untrue: "He changes what he tells and that's not becoming of a congressman.

[94][95] By December 2022, it was reported that Cawthorn had violated the STOCK Act a total of three times that year for failing to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of sales in Let's Go Brandon coin, Bitcoin, and Ethereum.

American Muckrakers provided documents that appeared to show that Smith lived for free in a house owned by Cawthorn.

[103] On November 16, 2022, Joel Burgess of the Asheville Citizen-Times wrote Cawthorn had vacated and shut down his offices two months before the end of his term.

[104] Responding to the news that constituent services calls were not being handled, Rep.-elect Chuck Edwards—who had defeated Cawthorn in the Republican congressional primary, and won the general election—invited people to contact his state senate office instead.

[113] Cawthorn falsely asserted that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent, though he backtracked on the claim during a January 2021 CNN interview with Pamela Brown.

The bill would also eliminate the Optional Practical Training program that allows foreign graduates to stay and work in the United States.

[18][132][133][134] Katrina Krulikas described an incident when she was 17 and Cawthorn was 19 in which he pressured her to sit on his lap and attempted to kiss her forcibly twice, which she resisted.

[11][20] On October 17, 2020, a group of Patrick Henry College alumni released a public letter accusing Cawthorn of "sexually predatory behavior" while he was a student there for a little more than one semester, as well as of vandalism and lying.

It was alleged that Cawthorn often recklessly drove women in his car to remote areas off campus while asking them sexual questions: he reportedly called these journeys "fun drives".

[20] On May 4, 2022, a video began circulating online that showed Cawthorn naked in bed, thrusting his genitals toward another man's face while moaning.

[138] In February 2021, Transportation Security Administration agents at the Asheville Regional Airport discovered an unloaded Glock 9mm handgun and loaded magazine in Cawthorn's carry-on bag.

[139] In April 2022, Cawthorn was briefly detained at an airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, for attempting to board a commercial flight with a loaded handgun in his carry-on luggage.