Congressman Madison Cawthorn, representing North Carolina's 11th Congresisonal District, has built his entire career on lies.
The first lie, and the most obvious, is the "big lie" perpetrated by Donald Trump and the GOP, whom baselessly claimed that the 2020 US General Election was "stolen" from them. Cawthorn was among the seditionists in Congress who spoke at the rally before the storming of the United States Capitol and who vowed to vote against certifying the election results in the House Of Representatives.
This next, and altogether more duplicitous lie built from his status as paraplegic due to a car accident that paralyzed him in 2014, is being called out by other members of the disabled community.
Cawthorn reportedly posted on social media he was training for the 2020 Paralympics, but disabled athletes were already onto his nonsense.
"We would share whatever posts he put up and be like, 'Look at what batsh*t thing he said about the Paralympics this week."
Cawthorn's campaign said that he intended to compete in the 400-meter dash at the 2020 Paralympic games (now postponed until summer 2021.). However, despite his constant posting about it on social media, other Paralympians were not fooled.
"It's like a kid saying they want to play in the NBA when they're on their fourth-grade basketball team," said Amanda McGrory, who has earned seven medals in track and field.
She said Cawthorn not only was not planning to compete, but he never even qualified.
"You have to be involved in a team, usually your college or a local club. And then from there, you establish times at qualifying races, and then from there you get scouted."
Another Paralympian who competes in wheelchair races, named Robert Kozarek, also could not place Cawthorn at any qualifying races.
"The community itself is small. There's probably 50 [elite wheelchair racers] in the entire country, and we see each other four, five, six times a year, at least."
Despite being a member of the disabled community, Cawthorn's disregard for just how difficult qualifying for the Paralympic Games is has rubbed several athletes the wrong way.
In addition, the media's refusal to acknowledge how absurd his claims were have put a spotlight on how discounted the disabled community is.
"There is such a lack of awareness about the Paralympic Movement," said Brian Siemann, a Paralympian who is still training for 2021.
"[People] don't understand the time and effort and energy that Paralympic athletes put in their training. It's an elite sport. You can't just get in a racing chair. That's really not how it works."
Cawthorn's lies are many and layered.
In addition to the two previously listed, Cawthorn also lied about being accepted into the Naval Academy before his accident in 2014, as well as the success of his business, which reported no income in 2019 and only Cawthorn as an employee.
It appears North Carolina's 11th District is being represented by a proven liar.
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