Among the most shocking political news stories this week was far-right Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn losing his primary in his home state of North Carolina, ending his brief and extremely combative political career.
And it seems Cawthorn is definitely in his feelings about it.
Much like the former President he idolizes, Republican Donald Trump--not to mention his favorite dictator Adolph Hitler--Cawthorn is not content to simply accept defeat and move on with his life.
Instead, he is issuing threats to "establishment" Republicans and their voters--which clearly outnumber his--of a so-called "Dark MAGA" comeback.
Cawthorn made his announcement in a bizarre, rambling Instagram post name-checking a who's who of white nationalists and conspiracy theorists that make up this "Dark MAGA" cabal. See the post below.
Along with a bunch of complaints about members of the Republican Party who turned their backs on him amid Cawthorn's ever-lengthening list of scandals, he wrote:
"It’s time for the rise of the new right, it’s time for Dark MAGA to truly take command."
"We have an enemy to defeat, but we will never be able to defeat them until we defeat the cowardly and weak members of our own party."
"Their days are numbered. We are coming."
Cawthorn seems to have forgotten that more people voted for these "cowardly and weak" Republicans than him.
But nothing could match the absurdity of the opening salvo with which Cawthorn began his "Dark MAGA" manifesto:
"The time for genteel politics as usual has come to an end."
There has been nothing genteel about Cawthorn's politics, which consisted almost entirely of bigotry, scandal, public beefs with fellow politicians of both parties, and outright lies that he was frequently caught in the act of telling.
And that's before we even take into account that "Dark MAGA" is a popular far-right meme calling for an openly Nazi-style Trump campaign in 2024.
So everyone\u2019s favorite fascist republican Madison Cawthorn recently made an Instagram post saying that \u201cDark MAGA\u201d needs to happen. Dark MAGA is an internet meme in far right circles which depicts Trump running again in 2024 as an open fascist/Nazi and throwing optics to the windpic.twitter.com/5JBuafSCqF— Anarcho Wabbit \u24b6 \ud83c\udff4 (@Anarcho Wabbit \u24b6 \ud83c\udff4) 1653001149
And of course, Cawthorn was sure to throw in a reference to "globalism," a long-standing anti-Semitic dog whistle. So genteel, that Madison.
On social media, very few people were impressed by Cawthorn's tirade.
Well, defeat has clearly broken the fragile psyche of one Madison Cawthorn, who now wants a "Dark MAGA" revolution or somethingpic.twitter.com/ynrjRMn9Th— Max Burns (@Max Burns) 1652987481
Madison Cawthorn: show them you\u2019re not an idiot, Maddie. You\u2019re a big boy and you deserve to be taken seriously! \n\nAlso Madison Cawthorn: Dark MAGA assemble!https://twitter.com/sambrodey/status/1527373298182434821\u00a0\u2026— Angry Staffer \ud83c\udf3b (@Angry Staffer \ud83c\udf3b) 1652992515
Madison Cawthorn just announced a new form of MAGA has emerged that will be referred to as "Dark MAGA" & it's purpose is to seek vengeance on the Republican party. \n\nMAGA now has more variants than COVID & I really can't figure out what is worse.— Kyla In The Burgh \ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f\ud83d\udd25 (@Kyla In The Burgh \ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f\ud83d\udd25) 1652993015
Dear @CawthornforNC \n\nSave us the dark MAGA takeover BS and just tell everyone more about the Republican coke and orgies parties.— Don Winslow (@Don Winslow) 1652999915
If they haven't already, will someone please photoshop Dark MAGA Madison Cawthorn into this pic? I don't have time. Or the skill to do it.pic.twitter.com/bNGVi1TkeE— Jay LIT AF Adams (@Jay LIT AF Adams) 1652993393
Mentally unstable or just a pissed off kid taking his marbles home when he lost the game? \n\nVengeful Madison Cawthorn Vows \u2018Dark MAGA\u2019 Takeover https://news.yahoo.com/vengeful-madison-cawthorn-vows-dark-201759292.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr\u00a0\u2026 via @Yahoo— Kay Cecil (@Kay Cecil) 1652992516
Madison Cawthorn is now leaning into Dark MAGA just days after his loss. Again, this movement is extremely vengeful and aggrieved, so it\u2019s a natural fit for a sore loser.https://twitter.com/sambrodey/status/1527373298182434821\u00a0\u2026— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D) 1652995252
#wtpBLUE #Fresh\n\nTODAY IN HISTORY\n\n1780\u2014New England's "Dark Day."\nAn unexplained darkening of the day sky.\n\n2022\u2014Madison Cawthorn vows that today "Dark MAGA" will take over & vanquish his enemies.\n\nDoes he think he's the new Batman?\nWho would be his Robin?https://www.thedailybeast.com/madison-cawthorn-vows-dark-maga-takeover-after-losing-to-chuck-edwards-in-north-carolina-primary\u00a0\u2026— LongTime\ud83e\udd13FirstTime\ud83d\udc69\u200d\ud83d\udcbb (@LongTime\ud83e\udd13FirstTime\ud83d\udc69\u200d\ud83d\udcbb) 1653001083
Though others cautioned that Cawthorn's reference to "Dark MAGA" is an open call to the sort of violence and Nazi-style white nationalist politics we saw during the January 6 insurrection and the events that led up to it.
Dark MAGA has been a growing concept among very online Trump supporters this spring. Basically it means you stole the election from us, NOW we're going to be bad.https://twitter.com/sambrodey/status/1527373298182434821\u00a0\u2026— Will Sommer (@Will Sommer) 1652990449
Over the past few years, liberals suspected Cawthorn of being a secret Nazi while overt neo-Nazis called him a Zionist shill. But these lines about ending "gentile politics as usual" and beginning "Dark MAGA" are certainly louder than the usual dog whistles.https://twitter.com/sambrodey/status/1527373298182434821\u00a0\u2026— Nick Martin (@Nick Martin) 1652992247
If you think this sounds like a call to violence, you\u2019re not wrong.https://twitter.com/sambrodey/status/1527373298182434821\u00a0\u2026— \ud83c\udf3b Kaz Weida \ud83c\udf3b (@\ud83c\udf3b Kaz Weida \ud83c\udf3b) 1652990525
@PreetBharara/X
@RepBrendanBoyle/X
@twesq/Bluesky
@christopherharris/Bluesky
@evangelinewarren/X
@FrankC164/X
AMC
