N.C. Rep. Madison Cawthorn: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a 'thug'
Chelsey Cox- Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a "thug" at an event.
- Lawmakers, including members of the GOP, condemned Cawthorn's statements, calling him an "outlier."
Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., was caught on video this week calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “thug” and the Ukrainian government "evil."
"Remember that Zelenskyy is a thug," Cawthorn said in the video. "Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and is incredibly evil and has been pushing woke ideologies."
Karl Rove, former White House deputy chief of staff, cited the comments in an opinion piece published Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal. Rove wrote that Cawthorn, 26, was recorded at an even in Asheville over the weekend and that he thought the congressman's remarks “didn’t reflect Republican opinion.”
A video clip of Cawthorn making the comments was posted Thursday to WRAL, a local news network in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide
More:Ukrainian President Zelenskyy praises President Biden for Russian oil ban
In a tweet posted one hour after WRAL's report, Cawthorn called the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin "disgusting" but also said leaders, including Zelenskyy, "should NOT push misinformation on America."
"Propaganda is being used to entice America into another war. I do not want Americans dying because emotions pushed us into a conflict," Cawthorn wrote. "I am praying for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Pray also we are not drawn into conflict based on foreign leaders pushing misinformation."
The conservative Republican's comments met with pushback from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Asked about Cawthorn’s remarks at the Republican leadership news conference Thursday afternoon, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa said Russian President Vladimir Putin was the corrupt thug, not Zelenskyy.
“So to my colleague in the House, I would push back and say it's not Ukraine that is invading Russia. It is Russia invading Ukraine. And they are going to have — Russia is going to have a world of hurt on their hands. But we have to be able to provide them the means to do it.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who also spoke at the news conference, said Cawthorn and others like him in the Republican party are "outliers."
"I think the average Republican and Democrat in this country would give high marks to Zelenskyy," Graham said. "So, when you see a member of Congress say things like this, the one thing I want you to know: they're outliers in the largest sense possible on our side. And there's some on the left that are outliers."
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., posted the video clip of Cawthorn to Twitter Thursday and wrote, "I commend the United States Naval Academy for having the foresight to reject GOP Rep Madison Cawthorn, who had lied about getting accepted by the Academy."
Ukraine updates:Kremlin struggles to explain hospital bombing amid growing outrage; GOP senators question Biden on fighter jets
Contributing: Joshua Meyer, Maureen Groppe
Reach out to Chelsey Cox on Twitter at @therealco.