Once a MAGA poster child, former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn is attempting a political comeback — this time in an open House seat in Florida — but he shouldn’t expect any help from those in President Donald Trump’s orbit.
“No way,” one source close to Trump told NOTUS when asked whether Cawthorn would get the backing of the president and his circle.
A second source close to the White House said that they “don’t think it’s a high priority” to help get Cawthorn elected in Florida.
In 2020, Cawthorn won a contested primary in North Carolina against the Trump-endorsed Lynda Bennett, who was also former Rep. Mark Meadows’ handpicked replacement to fill the seat. He was quickly embraced by Trumpworld, but after numerous scandals (including allegations of sexual misconduct and insider trading, and getting detained for attempting to bring a loaded gun onto a plane) he lost his seat in 2022. He also enraged Republican leadership and his colleagues after saying on a podcast that he’d been invited by lawmakers to participate in an orgy and many of them used cocaine.
None of those scandals cost him Trump’s support at the time, but Trumpworld is known to not like candidates who lose, especially after the president has given his endorsement. Cawthorn’s loss led to a significant number of bad headlines for the then-former president, who was trying to retain his grip on the Republican Party.
“Donald Trump couldn’t save NC’s Madison Cawthorn,” one headline read. “Trump Backing Fails to Help Madison Cawthorn Keep US House Seat,” read another.
“Madison was a disaster in his first term in Congress and everything that Team Trump has seen from him since, only makes people think he’s going to be even a bigger disaster this time around,” another source close to the White House told NOTUS. “He has a bit of talent so it is unfortunate that he is so self destructive.”
Cawthorn is running for the Florida seat that will be vacated by Rep. Byron Donalds, who is running for governor. He has touted his ties to Trump, using a picture of them together in his announcement video, but those in Trump’s political orbit haven’t forgotten the headache that Cawthorn caused them.
“The great thing about Trump 2.0 is how fast the grifters and the pretenders have been exposed and removed,” one national GOP strategist close to Trumpworld said. “Suffice it to say — Madison Cawthorn is a perfect example of the kind of pretender and fraud that has no place in the current GOP.”
Trump, of course, has the final say on whether or not to back Cawthorn, but with his political orbit so united against Cawthorn, it’s likely that an endorsement won’t be coming.
“The President has not taken a position in that race at this time,” a White House official told NOTUS.
Cawthorn did not respond to NOTUS’ request for comment.
It’s not just Trumpworld that doesn’t plan on supporting Cawthorn; House GOP leadership has no intention of backing him either.
Cawthorn’s many scandals caused then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to say that Cawthorn had “lost my trust.”
“House Republicans want Madison Cawthorn back about as bad as they want a colonoscopy,” one House GOP leadership aide told NOTUS.
A second senior GOP aide compared Cawthorn to Steve Stifler, the antagonist in “American Pie,” but “minus the charm and twice the stupidity.”
“Working with Madison was like babysitting a TikTok influencer who thought he was Winston Churchill,” a former House GOP leadership aide who worked closely with Cawthorn said. “My condolences to the good people of Naples if they have to endure his embarrassments.”
Cawthorn is up against a heated field that includes five candidates who have run for Congress in different states. Most notably, the field includes former Rep. Chris Collins, who was a member from New York before he resigned on the day he pleaded guilty to insider trading. During his first term, Trump pardoned Collins.
This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS and The Assembly.
This story has been updated with comment from a White House official.