Madison Cawthorn and Mark Robinson are the new faces of the NC GOP. Are they its future?

Looking back at the past 12 years of Republican politicians in Congress, Dan Eichenbaum, chairman of the Cherokee County Commission, feels let down.

Promises they made — most importantly, repealing Obamacare — fell through.

Excuses piled on.

But Rep. Madison Cawthorn, he believes, will be different.

Eichenbaum is one of the Republicans in Western North Carolina, where Cawthorn is running for reelection, who thinks Cawthorn represents the future of the Republican Party.

His youth and his no-holds-barred, unapologetic style — the very things other Republicans loathe about him — are exactly what Eichenbaum likes most.

“We worked our behinds off to fill Congress with conservatives, and we did. And then they turned around and shafted us,” said Eichenbaum, who organized in Western North Carolina during the Tea Party movement.

“That’s something we remember, and some of those people are still around and they should be gone. But someone like Madison Cawthorn, he opens his mouth and says what needs to be said and he’s not afraid to do it.”

“I respect that,” he said.

Since the 2020 election, two of North Carolina’s newest politicians have become known for their unrestrained rhetoric. Their comments have electrified many in their conservative base, while alienating other Republicans. But as similar as they are, Cawthorn and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson appear to be on different courses: Cawthorn increasingly on the outs with more mainstream leaders in his party, Robinson winning their approval — or at least their silence.

This month, alone, brought new controversies for Cawthorn. In comments caught on camera on March 10, he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “a thug” and the Ukrainian government “evil” as Russia’s army invaded Ukraine.

The 26-year-old congressman from Henderson County received instant backlash for attacking Zelenskyy, who had endeared himself worldwide for how he and his family stood by their war-torn country.

“I think he’s reckless,” House Speaker Tim Moore, one of the state’s top Republicans, said of Cawthorn in an interview with McClatchy. “And I think the comments he has made most recently about Ukraine show a lack of understanding about international relations and possibly a lack of maturity.”

Robinson, though? “I think he’s a smart man who cares a lot about this state,” Moore said. “He’s a solid conservative.”

Robinson, 53, thrust himself into national news last fall because of a speech he made at Asbury Baptist Church in Seagrove. He stood at the church’s pulpit and his voice boomed over the congregation as he called homosexuality and being transgender “filth.”

Robinson has mostly gained attention for attacks against the LGBTQ community, though he’s also made disparaging comments about Jewish people, atheists and others.

Cawthorn’s scandals are different, ranging from allegations of sexual misconduct to accusations that he helped incite the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Neither has resulted in charges.

And while prominent North Carolina Republicans acknowledge both men have caused controversies, they see the two differently.

Robinson was new to politics and lacked experience, Moore and others said, but held strong beliefs and didn’t understand how his words would resonate with people. Cawthorn’s political career, some Republicans say, is a time bomb that will eventually self-destruct.

“Congressman Cawthorn’s meteoric rise in the Republican Party has angered some in the GOP’s old guard, and that’s OK,” said Luke Ball, Cawthorn’s spokesman. “The Congressman is accountable to the people, not the Washington elite.”

As for Robinson, he told McClatchy in a statement Thursday he will always protect the rights of all citizens to express themselves and would not use the power of his office to discriminate against anyone.

“I don’t hate people who identify as LGBTQ+, many of whom are fellow Republicans,” Robinson said. “I simply disagree with some of their beliefs. Disagreement does not equate to discrimination.”

Robinson, a likely Republican candidate for governor in 2024, would be the first Black person in that job. Cawthorn has said he would like to be governor one day, though he won’t be old enough for four more years.

Other politicians’ reactions

Some Republican officials have ignored or downplayed Cawthorn and Robinson’s controversial comments, as many tried to do for former President Donald Trump.

In an interview, N.C. GOP Chairman Michael Whatley talked about the party’s future but declined to specifically address Cawthorn and Robinson’s issues. N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger declined to comment for this article. A request for comment from any Republican leadership in the Senate went unanswered by Berger’s spokeswoman Lauren Horsch, who had declined comment on Berger’s behalf and often handles requests for other senators in the party.

Even Moore, until the interview for this article, had largely been subtle or silent in his response to Cawthorn, even as Cawthorn stood in the way of his potential run for Congress. Cawthorn announced he would adopt the district where Moore lived, leaving his home district behind, to ensure that an “establishment, go-along-to-get along Republican,” didn’t get elected there.

The districts were later redrawn, and Cawthorn returned to the 11th Congressional District — and a slew of challengers from both parties.

Former state Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr said Republican consultants and advisers are likely telling candidates and elected officials not to say anything negative about what Cawthorn, Robinson or Trump say because it could anger their supporters and cost them an election.

“Unfortunately in this country, hate sells,” Orr said. “Hate and anger and prejudice motivates a portion of the voting folk and the Republican Party is afraid to lose that segment of its base by coming out and repudiating it.”

In the end, the party lost Orr.

“I don’t want to be associated with it,” said Orr, who changed his voter registration to unaffiliated. “I don’t want my obituary to read: ‘lifelong Republican.’”

Fear-mongering and fundraising?

Controversies don’t just motivate voters. They can also motivate campaign donors.

Take Cawthorn’s appearance at the Buncombe County school board meeting on Aug. 5. He told the board during public comments that forcing students to wear masks to protect against COVID-19 was “child abuse.”

He added that the greatest threat to the students wasn’t the deadly virus but “woke, liberal officials” like the board’s members.

Donations to Cawthorn spiked immediately.

Federal Election Commission records indicate that only 11 people donated $5,800 or more to Cawthorn in 2021, and one of those donations came the day of that speech. He raised $28,000 between Aug. 5 and 9.

“Republicans have realized that every time we hit them with that emotional pleasure juice, that is their issue, even if it’s only 10% or 15% of the populace, they’re going to give, and then you have that energized base that just wants to be angry,” Lawrence Shaheen, a conservative lawyer and political consultant, said, speaking in general terms and not directly about the fundraising of a specific candidate or politician.

“The practice of fundraising off of fear-mongering, on either side, is no different than people selling snake oil juice back in the early 1800s,” Shaheen said. “You’re selling a product that isn’t any good.”

Mark Robinson’s anti-LGBTQ speeches

Robinson was a Greensboro factory worker when he won fame with a 2018 speech in support of gun rights at a city council meeting. Two years later, he won a Republican primary for lieutenant governor and then defeated a Democratic state legislator with more than 51% of the vote. (North Carolina’s governor and lieutenant governor are elected separately.)

In the second-highest office in North Carolina’s executive branch, his primary role is to preside over the state Senate. Robinson also serves on five state boards, three of which focus on education. He has focused on education and school curriculum.

Last year, the state Board of Education approved new social studies standards that would teach students about racism, discrimination and the perspectives of marginalized groups, The News & Observer previously reported.

Robinson was an outspoken critic against the new standards, launching a website about indoctrination in the classroom and rallying more than 27,000 parents to sign a petition to reject the new standards.

“While Democrats want the government to control what, where, and how your children are taught, Republicans believe that parents should have control of their children’s education. Period,” Robinson said Thursday.

Some of Robinson’s most controversial speeches have come at churches, where he said his marriage to a woman was superior to a man’s marriage to another man and that he could find a purpose for cow feces but not gay sex. He’s also compared being transgender to a man wanting to dress up like a dog.

“There’s no reason anybody, anywhere in America should be telling children about transgenderism, homosexuality, any of that filth,” Robinson said at the Seagrove church. “Yes, I called it filth. And if you don’t like that I called it filth, then come see me about it.”

Many Republicans disagree with Robinson’s sentiments, including Shaheen, who said that there’s no path forward for a party that insults and denigrates the LGBTQ community.

After the video from Seagrove, Robinson posted a video on social media and held a news conference to say his comments were directed at explicit books tackling LGBTQ issues in North Carolina schools including “Melissa,” “Lawn Boy,” and “Gender Queer: A Memoir.” Robinson had occasionally mentioned in his speeches that LGBTQ issues were being raised in the classroom, but not the books.

Allison Scott, director of impact and innovation for Campaign for Southern Equality, said Robinson’s comments came before the books had become an issue.

“It really shows you that he is just trying to justify his comments,” Scott said.

Moore, the House speaker, said he sat down with Robinson and walked away believing Robinson spoke from the heart without always understanding how his words would sound to someone else.

“He’s pretty new to politics, and I think maybe it just represents the fact, I think he would say, that he’s been in office only two years now,” Moore said.

Madison Cawthorn caught in lies, makes baseless claims

Cawthorn, the youngest member of the 117th Congress, had not yet been elected when the first scandals around him broke, including accusations of mistreatment of women, which he denied.

He was also caught in deceptions regarding his personal life, involving claiming or implying that his friend left him for dead after the wreck that paralyzed him, that he was admitted to the U.S. Naval Academy, and that he was training for the Paralympics.

On Jan. 6, he spoke at the rally under the shadow of the Washington Monument before insurrectionists marched to the Capitol building, and he called his colleagues “spineless” for voting to certify Biden’s election. That came after he spread baseless claims about election fraud and encouraged supporters to “lightly threaten” their representatives.

He would go on to bring a gun into an airport and a knife into a school board meeting.

He would also announce he and his wife were divorcing eight months into their marriage.

“People just think that he considers himself above the law,” said former state Sen. Jim Davis, who lives in Cawthorn’s district and was among the candidates Cawthorn defeated in the 2020 primary election. “Why would you dump your wife for your political life? People are just upset with his priorities.”

This month, a State Highway Patrol trooper charged Cawthorn for the second time with driving while his license was revoked, and McClatchy learned he has two pending traffic citations for speeding.

His latest missteps gained the quickest reactions from his party.

“He’s a pariah,” Shaheen said. “We need a statesman. We don’t need a showman. Madison Cawthorn is a showman.”

Why are Republicans so silent?

It wasn’t until recently that Republicans began to speak out against Cawthorn. And that caused consternation among constituents who did take to social media asking why Republicans wouldn’t push back against Robinson and him.

“It was Ronald Reagan who said the 11th commandment is not to criticize your fellow Republicans,” Brent Woodcox, Berger’s senior policy counsel, said. “So I mean, I think that there are some people who adhere to that even in an age where maybe some of the fringier elements of the party seem to be further from the mainstream and further, quite frankly, from reality than maybe you would have seen in the past.”

Orr, the former state Supreme Court Justice, pointed to Jan. 6.

“How many congressmen from this state called that what it was?” Orr asked. “An attack on democracy.”

Only three Republicans opposed objections to certifying Biden’s election: Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr, and Rep. Patrick McHenry.

“Nobody’s going to step out,” Orr said. “Certainly within the state party structure, and call it what it was, and blame who was responsible.”

Orr said if a Republican did so they would likely have a primary challenger or be placed in a district with other incumbents in upcoming elections.

Burr is retiring after his current term. Both Tillis and McHenry hold more power in Congress than other North Carolina Republicans.

Moore said the silence has more to do with how little the party cares about what Cawthorn is doing.

“He just doesn’t consume anybody’s time because really when it comes to an elected office, anybody can yell and say stupid stuff,” Moore said.

Cawthorn has openly prioritized communications over legislation, although in February, he introduced his “New Contract with America,” intended as a 10-part road map to guide Republicans on policy topics from immigration to health care to education.

Moore said he’s focused on leaders who want to create change.

“I’m saying with all due respect to Mr. Cawthorn, I don’t think he’s really interested in advancing any meaningful policy to help this state or this nation,” Moore said.

Cawthorn’s constituents

Not everyone agrees. Clay County Commissioner Dwight Penland said he supports Cawthorn.

“I think he’s standing up for our country and our state,” Penland said. “He says what he thinks and he don’t back away from it, and he don’t sugarcoat nothing.”

Penland runs a small business selling and installing truck beds. He said Cawthorn is popular in Clay County and they need someone like him in Washington who is willing to be disruptive.

Joe Simonds, a candidate for Cherokee County commissioner, said he was a Cawthorn supporter, but now he’s not so sure.

“He got my attention when he started running for our district and got my vote,” Simonds said. “I’m not so much worried about the controversial side. It just kind of comes down to — I’ve had trouble kind of figuring out how much representation that we get on this end of the district.”

Cherokee is the westernmost county in North Carolina and is more than two hours from Cawthorn’s hometown. Simonds said Cawthorn doesn’t make many trips to Cherokee and that’s been a point of consternation.

“Here in our county, that’s just been the general attitude,” Simonds said. “Nobody really had a problem getting behind him, but then it just felt like we’ve been left alone on this end of the district. Other folks I talked to about it kind of feel the same.”

Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers, a Democrat, said Cawthorn embarrassed his district on Jan. 6.

He understood the initial appeal: Cawthorn attracted younger voters and was a new brand of Republican.

“I can appreciate that and I think that’s important … but then, come election night, he tweets, ‘Cry More, Lib,’” Smathers said, quoting the first tweet Cawthorn published following his win.

He added that his constituents don’t like grandstanding.

Cawthorn’s GOP challengers

While pushback hasn’t always been obvious, Shaheen said it is going on behind the scenes.

He said few of Cawthorn’s colleagues ever take up for him.

He also said to look at the high number of Republicans, seven in all, who chose to run against Cawthorn in the upcoming primary.

“I mean, obviously the party is not coalesced around Congressman Cawthorn because you don’t see people who have a tight hold on that job, getting so much opposition from within their own ranks,” Woodcox, Berger’s senior policy counsel, said.

Ball said Cawthorn is OK with having critics.

“His goal is to mold the GOP, both in North Carolina and around the nation, into a party that puts America first,” Ball, Cawthorn’s spokesman, said. “Firebrands like Congressman Cawthorn are fiery; sometimes that means his brand draws critique from the left and establishment politicians. But his mission, to place people over politics and disempower permanent Washington, resonates strongly with the American people.”

State Sen. Chuck Edwards, one of Cawthorn’s opponents in the primary, told McClatchy that Western North Carolinians are tired of “politicians that are seeking stardom.”

Cawthorn also faces former 11th District Chairwoman Michele Woodhouse, once one of his fiercest supporters. She said Cawthorn has closed three constituent services offices in Macon and Yancey counties and seems to people more concerned with his Instagram account than legislating in Washington.

“The people of Western North Carolina have felt abandoned,” Woodhouse told McClatchy.

Cawthorn backed Woodhouse to succeed him before changing his mind about switching districts as new maps emerged.

Woodhouse didn’t step aside when he returned, and criticized his change of heart.

“Western North Carolinians don’t want to be someone’s second choice in where they decide to run for Congress,” Woodhouse said. “We need someone who has conservative principles … and they’re not focused on building an online brand.”

Six Democrats and a Libertarian are also vying for Cawthorn’s seat in a Republican-leaning district.

Is Robinson toning down his comments?

As for Robinson, Shaheen confirmed donors threatened to pull funding from the state party if he didn’t tone down his comments.

Robinson’s comments were tamer on a recent visit to Berean Baptist Church in Winston-Salem than in a previous visit, video of both speeches show. The minister, Ron Baity, is also known for making anti-LGBTQ remarks. He did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

“It’s not just donors,” Shaheen said. “It’s the national folks saying, ‘shut up.’”

Shaheen said Robinson is smart and has begun adding equally smart people to his staff who know what it takes to move him into a higher office.

Robinson received a standing ovation last week when he walked on stage at the Wake County Republican Convention. The crowd cheered louder for him than other speakers.

He talked to the crowd about sex education, indoctrination in the classroom, critical race theory, supporting police officers and a possible run for governor.

Shaheen said Robinson is close to becoming the first African American governor of North Carolina, one who came from the working class and is willing to work on working-class issues.

“That would be historic,” Shaheen said. “It’s a perfect strategy and the only way to screw that up is if he won’t shut up.”

The toxicity of Republicans and Democrats

Unaffiliated voters became the largest voting group in North Carolina over the weekend.

Woodcox, who falls into that category despite working for some of the state’s highest-ranking Republicans, said that goes to show how fed up Republicans and Democrats are with the toxicity of the two parties and that something needs to change.

Former Gov. Pat McCrory, the state’s last Republican governor who is now running for U.S. Senate in a primary against Trump-endorsed Ted Budd, said Reagan inspired him to become a Republican because of his style of leadership. He considers that style a bit self-deprecating, positive and one that unites.

“I think we’ve got to get back to that,” McCrory said.

Republicans remain united on most policy issues but have divisions because of personalities within the party, he said, without naming anyone specifically.

Whatley said the N.C. GOP is focused on policy creation from the federal to the state level involving issues from the country’s southern border to Afghanistan, Ukraine and Russia, gas prices and inflation.

“Republicans have specific policy, positions and agendas that would help on every single one of those fronts,” Whatley said. “And as we’re heading into the elections, we just want to make sure that the voters know the differences between the Republican agenda and the Democratic agenda.”

He said on the state level Republicans need to make sure companies know that North Carolina is an attractive state to do business in and for families to live in and that Republicans champion teacher pay raises.

Republicans interviewed for this article agreed their party needs to evolve with North Carolina’s population as it grows from a rural one to an urban one.

“I think as long as we continue to focus on getting our message out, that is really our highest priority,” Whatley said.

For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at https://campsite.bio/underthedome or wherever you get your podcasts.

This story was originally published March 20, 2022 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Madison Cawthorn and Mark Robinson are the new faces of the NC GOP. Are they its future?."

Danielle Battaglia

McClatchy DC

Danielle Battaglia is the D.C. correspondent for The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, leading coverage of North Carolina’s congressional delegation and elections. She also covers the White House. Her career has spanned three North Carolina newsrooms where she has covered crime, courts and local, state and national politics. She has won two McClatchy President’s awards and numerous national and state awards for her work.

Will Wright

The Charlotte Observer

Will Wright covers politics in Charlotte and North Carolina. He previously covered eastern Kentucky for the Lexington Herald-Leader, and worked as a reporting fellow at The New York Times.