GOP candidate for the House of Representatives Madison Cawthorn has drawn widespread anger online for comments he made criticizing his Democratic opponent for associating with people who "work for non-white males."
The comments appeared on an attack website that Cawthorn put up against his opponent, Democrat Moe Davis. In the site's copy, Cawthorn smears Davis for being close associates with journalist Tom Fiedler and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, whom Cawthorn accuses of trying to "ruin white males."
For many, the website's copy confirmed long-standing suspicions that Cawthorn has ties to white nationalist movements.
According to screenshots circulated on social media and an archived version of the website, Cawthorn's web copy said of Fiedler and Senator Booker:
"Tom Fieldler [sic] who works with Moe Davis' advocates, is working to tear down Madison Cawthorn. He quit his academia job in Boston to work for non-white males, like Cory booker, who aims to ruin white males running for office."
Fiedler is a former journalist at the Miami Herald and Boston University professor, and volunteered for Booker's presidential campaign. As a journalist, he has written about both Davis and Cawthorn.
Cawthorn's website, MoeTaxes.com, criticizes Davis for his supposed ties to Fiedler, among other things like supporting calls for police reform, being a "terrorist defender," and committing unspecified acts of "perversion."
Davis hit back at Cawthorn on Twitter, and clarified that Fiedler is not part of his campaign.
Cawthorn has since removed the comment about Senator Booker and edited the verbiage about Fiedler to subtler attacks that do not include blatant pandering to white nationalist talking points. It now reads:
"He quit his academia job in Boston to become a political operative and is an unapologetic defender of left-wing identity politics."
Cawthorn has previously drawn controversy for his Instagram posts from a vacation during which he visited one of Adolph Hitler's vacation homes, and for accusations of sexual harassment by his former college classmates.
On Twitter, the screenshots of Cawthorn's website drew outrage and confirmed many people's concerns about his character.
Cawthorn, who is 25, is running for the seat vacated by Mark Meadows, who left to become Donald Trump's Chief of Staff. He is currently polling 3 points behind Moe Davis.
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