Let’s talk a little bit about the latest claims by radical Trumpian, Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn. Madison Cawthorn in my view, is up there with Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Louis Gohmert. You know, these are some of the most radical and weaponized individuals in the house of representatives right now. Madison Cawthorn made headlines, when he went on a podcast. He claimed that he was stunned that, since getting to Washington DC, he started to be invited by 50, 60, and 70 year old members of Congress to go to orgies. Orgies sometimes fueled by cocaine involving so-called cocaine key bumps, where I guess you’re snorting cocaine off of a key, is the point that he is making. Now, this immediately created a sort of firestorm where some Republicans were mad at him because they felt that he was lying, or they at least claimed that he was lying. That that’s not really going on. 

Now, whether it is or isn’t going on, many Republicans would be incentivized to claim that it’s not going on because they claim to be the party of family values, et cetera. And cocaine key bump orgies are not exactly what aligns with family values. At the same time, we know they don’t really care about it because they elected Trump. Trump, a guy who has had a number of affairs, divorces was pro-choice for the first 68 years of his life. And on and on. If they really cared about their definition of family values, they never would’ve voted for Trump in the first place. But let’s ignore that for now, because the hypocrisy at this point is just insanity. 

After speaking to Madison Cawthorn, House Republican minority leader Kevin McCarthy said Madison Cawthorn has walked back some of these claims. He doesn’t really know anything about cocaine and it just wasn’t the case.

Although even that has some conflicting reports where it’s not really clear whether Madison Cawthorn acknowledges that he walked back some of those claims. Fundamentally what I think is going on here is that Madison Cawthorn is desperate for attention and is desperate for relevance. So my opinion, my opinion about this is that there are kernels of truth about what Madison Cawthorn has said. Or there are kernels of truth in that these are things Madison Cawthorn has heard, and he wrapped it all up as one theory about what is going on. So for example, do people in Washington, D.C. use cocaine? Yes, people all over the country use cocaine. And so without a doubt, it’s plausible that Madison Cawthorn is maybe aware of a member of Congress or two that use cocaine. Or he has friends in D.C. who use cocaine. Either could be true.

That’s number one. Number two: Are there orgys or sex parties, as you might call them among members of the House of Representatives? There probably are, given all of the different lifestyle choices. And I’m using that term accurate. When I say lifestyle choice, I don’t mean sexual orientation. Given the number of lifestyle choices that are out there, including open marriages, including all sorts of different things.It is likely that there are members of Congress who have sex parties, maybe Madison Cawthorn hasn’t been to them, but he’s heard of them. 

So at the end of the day, I think this is a young guy who really wants to be paid attention to. And he miscalculated. He didn’t realize that if he put this story together, as if it’s one story, I’ve been to, I’ve been invited to the orgies and there’s cocaine at the orgies and people are snorting cocaine off of keys.

He put together things he had heard and maybe anecdotally things that he’s aware of into one story. And it completely backfired. Instead of getting like an “attaboy,” he ended up really horrifying members of the Republican Party. 

What I would love to see is Madison Cawthorn name the people that are involved. If this is really something that’s going on, name the people. Tell us who invited you to the orgies, sex parties, whatever you wan to call them, who invited you or how were you aware of the cocaine piece? If you didn’t go, how did you know there was cocaine, and who’s offering the cocaine to people. Just put your money where your mouth is, tell us who did it. I think it would very quickly be revealed that it was a sort of an amalgamation of different things that he heard or whatever the case may be.

Now on the tail end of this, there might be interest among Republicans in getting this guy the hell out of Congress. And if that’s the case, I would love it. Not because I think him announcing that there are cocaine-fueled orgies would be a reason to kick him out. I don’t. I think his ignorance, dishonesty and radical nature, and the fact that he is completely unqualified and that he doesn’t know anything would be reasons to kick him out. And we often say, you know, sometimes, like we’ve said before, if you primary Manchin, Joe Manchin, West Virginia Senator; if you primary Manchin and succeed at primarying him with a more left-leaning Democrat, he almost certainly loses to a Republican.

 So you don’t really gain. With Madison Cawthorn, it’s hard to imagine him being replaced with somebody worse because he’s one of the worst in the House of Representatives. So I welcome it. Whatever Republicans want to do to get this guy out of there, I would support.