CAWTHORN: Tell the Deep State I'm On the Way

You saw all the stories.

For a few days, it was wall to wall. A full-scale, all-out assault on my candidacy using opposition research full of half-truths and inuendoes. I had never seen a more vicious, dark money-funded political attack on anyone like this before in my life. But here it was, being directed at me.

I didn’t come to Washington to cozy up to lobbyists. I rarely spoke to establishment party bosses because they knew they couldn’t control my voting card. Instead of reading what the Whip’s office emailed over before each vote or asking how other party-aligned members were voting, my staff and I studied each piece of legislation that came up. We thought for ourselves, and we did what I knew was in the best interest of my constituents.

The swamp hates that. But what they hate worse is when people tell the truth.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what put the GOP establishment machine over the edge; maybe it’s when I told the truth about corruption happening in Ukraine. Maybe it was when I pointed out that countries with unsecure elections were widely prone to violence and bloodshed. Or perhaps it struck a nerve with some when I exposed Washington for the town it truly is: one where sexual promiscuity runs rampant, and where drugs are frequently abused.

Unbridled truth-telling makes some folks nervous, I guess. Some of my colleagues called me a liar. They implied I was just seeking attention. Some talked down to me, with a tone that said quite plainly: “You’ve got a lot of nerve kid, and a lot to learn.”

This was, of course, all before the stories. The ones that gave me quiet vindication. They seem like political light years away from where we are now, but you’ll remember them. Like when cocaine was found inside the White House near the West Wing. Or when a male Senate Democrat staffer was filmed performing sexual acts with another man in a Senate conference room. In the last few weeks, mainstream news outlets now boast headlines about “The Dark Side of Zelensky’s Rule,” something that three years ago, apparently would have gotten you driven out of Washington on a rail.

Permanent Washington killed the messenger – me. And it all turned out to be true. Where do I go to get my apology?

Losing my primary election stung. I didn’t just lose an election, I lost my staff, my friends, and my D.C. mentors. And I just didn’t feel at home anymore.

A close friend I made in Washington invited me to stay at his house in Florida for a few days. But days stretched into weeks – and eventually I decided that this would become my home.

That was nearly four years ago. During that time, I have become engrained in this wonderful community of southwest Florida. My neighbors don’t know me as some D.C. hotshot or a member of Congress; they just call me Madison. Now, I spend my days visiting local GOP clubs, helping lead a men’s Bible study, or enjoying the one thing that helps me most forget that I am paralyzed – riding a jet ski.

Some say I was already a Florida Man at heart before I arrived. I don’t think they’re wrong.

The doctors told me after my accident that I probably have a life expectancy of about fifty years old. I plan to outlive that. But it does force me to think – at thirty, how much more life do I have left to live, and what am I going to do with it? I don’t relax very well. I have to keep moving.

When I saw my friend Charlie Kirk gunned down by an assassin, I knew I had no other choice. I wasn’t going to sit by and watch my country fall headlong into socialism, watch radical left lunatics pick off our best fighters, or watch weak men create hard times for my future children. I was going to fight.

So today, I find myself back out on the campaign trail. But instead of rolling up the mountains of Western North Carolina, I’m rolling through sun kissed rows of palm trees. This is home now – I came and quietly learned from my neighbors what mattered most to them. When Hurricane Ian hit, I helped rebuild my new community and delivered supplies to those in desperate need. I’m not out here to make a name for myself or gain more media attention (Lord knows I’ve already had plenty of that.)

I’m here because this is where God brought me, and I know He has a plan for my life. I’m ready to charge Babylon again and fight for our country.

In other words, I’m back, folks. Tell the deep state I’m on the way.

Madison Cawthorn is running for Congress in Florida's 19th Congressional District. He previously served in the U.S. House from 2021 to 2023.