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North Carolina Republican Representative Madison Cawthorn, who is openly transphobic and anti-LGBTQ+, is under fire after photos of him in women's lingerie emerged.
Cawthorn has staked his political career on his image as an arch-conservative, pro-family, Evangelical Christian Republican who exhibits all of the supposedly hyper-masculine bona fides adulated by the far-right.
Pictures of him in women's lingerie, of course, run counter to all of that and have led many to accuse Cawthorn of hypocrisy.
The photos, which Cawthorn says were taken during a nightclub game aboard a cruise ship, were obtained by Politico from a former associates of Cawthorn's.
See them below.
Well, uh\u2026I\u2019m kinda speechless.\n\nI\u2019m not sure Madison Cawthorn is gonna like THIS media attention.\n\nHey, if he likes women\u2019s lingerie that\u2019s cool, but maybe he should cut out the trans bashing.\n\nhttps://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/22/madison-cawthorn-photos-00027286?_amp=true\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/WZV6xUvQKE— Science Matters \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Science Matters \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1650662418
Politico reported the photos were received from a person formerly close to Cawthorn and his campaign and confirmed by a second person with similar ties, but the outlet was unable to verify them itself.
Cawthorn, however, seemed to do that work for Politico.
In a tweet he posted in response, Cawthorn confirmed the photos and gave details about their origins.
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?\n\nThey're running out of things to throw at me...\n\nShare your most embarrassing vacay pics in the replies\n\nhttps://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2299\u00a0\u2026— Madison Cawthorn (@Madison Cawthorn) 1650663056
His tweet read:
"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?"
Cawthorn also included a link to a description of the event at which he says the photos were taken, an adult-themed scavenger hunt offered aboard Royal Caribbean cruises called Quest.
In the grand scheme of things the photos may be essentially meaningless to most on the left except as an example of hypocrisy.
What the photos show—drunken revelry with a side of sexy decadence—definitely doesn't adhere to Cawthorn's vehement insistence on his own hyper-masculinity and his obsession with suppressing LGBTQ+ rights, nor does it comport with the pious morality Cawthorn espouses.
Cawthorn attacks trangender and LGBTQ+ people every chance he gets, most recently in a since-deleted tweet from last week in which he insisted there are "only... two genders" and one's gender cannot be changed. He has repeatedly blocked pro-LGBTQ+ legislation and publicly supported anti-trans bills across the country.
He has also frequently decried America as a nation of "soft men" who need to "to reclaim and restore masculinity" and has spoken openly about his "personal relationship with Jesus Christ," telling a podcast he was "raised on Proverbs and pushups" in 2020.
On Twitter, people were tired of the many double standards the photos seemed to underline.
I don't care that Madison Cawthorn likes to wear lingerie in his free time. It doesn't bother me, and it doesn't affect me. If he wants to be playful with gender expression, it's his life.\n\nI do care that Madison Cawthorn attacks trans people and shames us for living our lives.— Charlotte Clymer \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Charlotte Clymer \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1650670094
I don\u2019t care that Madison Cawthorn wore lingerie. I care that that he and the rest of his colleagues are demonizing LGBTQ kids on a daily basis.— Charles Booker (@Charles Booker) 1650676507
You can discuss the Madison Cawthorn photos while not engaging in the same homophobia and transphobia that he\u2019s so well known for.— Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (@Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta) 1650674949
The prob with Madison Cawthorn isn\u2019t the bra, it\u2019s the hypocrisy\n\nIt\u2019s his attempt to overthrow our govt and calls for insurrection\n\nIt\u2019s his assaulting women and sneaking guns onto planes\n\nIt\u2019s his calling Zelensky a thug\n\nThe prob isn\u2019t the drag. The prob is the evil behind it— Lindy Li (@Lindy Li) 1650677770
It\u2019s not the photos.\n\nIt\u2019s the hypocrisy.https://twitter.com/CawthornforNC/status/1516208056362807299\u00a0\u2026— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1650673744
The End of Men\n@TuckerCarlsonhttps://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/22/madison-cawthorn-photos-00027286\u00a0\u2026— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@Rep. Eric Swalwell) 1650661989
Madison Cawthorn can wear womens\u2019 lingerie every day if he chooses. It\u2019s a free country. Just stop the sanctimony, hypocrisy, projection, and shaming of others who simply wish to be their authentic selves, too.— Rep. Dean Phillips \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Rep. Dean Phillips \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1650669594
I have nothing against Cawthorn wearing lingerie. You do you, man. But I\u2019ll be damned if he\u2019s going to tell the rest of us we need to go on some crusade against the LGBTQ community to \u201cprotect the culture\u201d while he does it.— Heath Mayo (@Heath Mayo) 1650666775
It's illegal in Florida to explain to a kid if they ask their teacher why Madison Cawthorn is in lingerie.— \ud83d\udc80DeathMetalViking\ud83d\udc80 (@\ud83d\udc80DeathMetalViking\ud83d\udc80) 1650671917
Not Madison Cawthorn in womens lingerie and hoop earrings, chile. \n\nIs he using the right bathroom? Is he grooming children? The people demand to know.pic.twitter.com/tq4dzwCxNK— chris evans (@chris evans) 1650664006
Fittingly, the description of the Quest event Cawthorn tweeted includes a joke about photos from the event being used for "blackmail"—someething Cawthorn should have thought about before attending, it seems.