U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn is facing backlash from GOP colleagues for his shots at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
WASHINGTON -- When House Republicans gathered on the baseball field Friday morning for their weekly practice, members were abuzz about one topic: Rep. Madison Cawthorn.calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a"thug"
"Madison Cawthorn has said he is here for PR and not legislating. I don't think he's a serious legislator," Rice told CNN."I think he's more interested in throwing bombs than he is in actually trying to help the country." "Madison is wrong, if there's any thug in this world it's Putin," House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said at his weekly news conference on Friday, though he said he's still supporting Cawthorn's reelection bid."You just watched Putin directing Russia bomb a maternity ward. We watched yesterday in a theater that's identified in the front and the back from the air that you're housing children -- bombed.
"The Congressman was expressing his displeasure at how foreign leaders, including Zelenskyy, had recently used false propaganda to entice America into becoming involved in an overseas conflict," Cawthorn's spokesman said."He supports Ukraine and the Ukrainian President's efforts to defend their country against Russian aggression, but does not want America drawn into another conflict through emotional manipulation.
Rep. Steve Womack, an Arkansas Republican, said it was"not a defensible comment" and wouldn't say whether he viewed Cawthorn as a productive member of the conference.