Report: GOP Golden Boy Madison Cawthorn Allegedly Sexually Harassed Women in College

GOP congressman Madison Cawthorn had quite a reputation while in college, and it wasn't for being a conservative firebrand.

"You don't want to be alone with him, especially in his car," writes BuzzFeed News concerning 26-year old Republican congressman Madison Cawthorn about his college day relationships with women. The Virginia lawmaker "arrived at Patrick Henry College's small Christian campus in northern Virginia in fall 2016 already something of a oversized personality: consigned to a wheelchair due to an automobile accident he regaled fellow students with stories of how it happened." And due to his extensive recovery regimen, he was older – 21 – than his peers.

In their report "BuzzFeed News spoke with more than three dozen people, including more than two dozen former students, their friends, and their relatives, who described or corroborated instances of sexual harassment and misconduct on campus, in Cawthorn's car, and at his house near campus." Four say that "Cawthorn, now a rising Republican star, was aggressive, misogynistic, or predatory toward them," including calling them derogatory names in front of their peers, calling one "slutty," asking inappropriate questions about their sex lives, grabbing their thighs and forcing them to sit on his lap, and kissing and touching them without their content. And then there was his car.

"Cawthorn often used his car as a way to entrap and harass his women classmates, taking them on what he could call "fun drives'' off campus. Two said he would drive recklessly and ask them about their virginity and sexual experiences while they were locked in the moving vehicle."

BuzzFeed News sent Cawthorn a list of the allegations. "His communications director, Micah Bock, did not respond to the specific allegations but instead referred BuzzFeed News to remarks the young Republican had made during a campaign debate in September: "I have never done anything sexually inappropriate in my life," Cawthorn said.

"If I have a daughter, I want her to grow up in a world where people know to explicitly ask before touching her," he said at the debate. "If I had a son, I want him to be able to grow up in a world where he would not be called a sexual predator for trying to kiss someone."

Cawthorn's congressional career has seen him cozying up to Far Right Republicans as Reps. Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene and other members of the Patriot movement, a collection of extremist, nationalistic groups that have taken root within the Republican Party. He also spoke at the January 6 "Stop the Steal" rally, telling Trump supporters that "Democrats and Republicans were "trying to silence your voice." He later condemned the violence at the Capitol.

He has also been accused of falsifying his academic record by saying he had been accepted to the Naval Academy but could not attend due his injury. In reality, Cawthorn admitted in a 2017 sworn deposition obtained by AVL Watchdog, that his application to the academy had already been rejected before the crash. The campaign did not comment, despite repeated requests over several days.

BuzzFeed News adds that many of his fellow students were surprised by his political success. "(T)hey remember him as one of the only Trump supporters on their small conservative campus, where he developed a reputation for mistreating women at the school, according to more than two dozen former students."

Some of his former classmates spoke out in social media during his campaign. "Last August, WORLD Magazine published the accounts of three women who said the young conservative sexually harassed and verbally assaulted them. One of these women was among those who spoke to BuzzFeed News for this story. Cawthorn has unequivocally denied the accusations, telling the Daily Caller the story was a "mix of half-truths, untruths and potentially fabricated allegations."

One woman, Katrina Krulikas, posted an Instagram about her experience with Cawthorn in 2016 when she was 17 and he was 19. "During the date, she said, Cawthorn–who is now engaged–tried forcibly to kiss her, although she had rejected his earlier attempt to do so," World reported. The publication contacted Cawthorn's campaign and it said that he "apologized if his attempt to kiss her when he was a teenager made her feel uncomfortable or unsafe." But spokesman, John Hart, claimed Democrats were using Krulikas in a political attack on Cawthorn.

On their date Krulikas said Cawthorn asked questions about her sex life, then persuaded her to sit on his lap, which she did with some reluctance. "I felt pressured and unsure of how to say no," she told WORLD Magazine. He then attempted to kiss her and she turned her head away. He attempted again, this time grabbing her face and attempting to kiss her on the mouth. "He was much stronger than me," she recalled. At this point she attempted to get off his lap. "While doing so, her hair, which reached midway down her back, caught in Cawthorn's wheelchair: 'I had to pull out some of my own hair just to free myself.' She describes herself as panicked. She remembers leaving a tangled chunk of her hair in his wheelchair," reported WORLD Magazine.

That night, WORLD Magazine added, she texted a friend to say the date had gone horribly and left her feeling unsettled. She also told three friends, two of whom confirmed her story with the publication.

Made aware of Krulikas's complaints in 2019, Cawthorn reached out to her directly, tweeting her:"I remember you and I went on a date to that campfire years ago and I remember I asked if I could kiss you, you said no, but I thought you were just being coy and then I really quickly kissed you and that's all I can remember. I can see in hindsight how that was over the line and I am sorry."

She blocked his number, telling WORLD Magazine she thought his apology "insincere, coming after the launch of his campaign for Congress: 'This message came six years after the fact, when ... he faces the possibility of public scrutiny.'" Krulikas also said that she did not feel like a victim, but made her post because "while the media portrays Madison as a role model for Christian, family values, my experience with him leads me to believe otherwise." She also said she had been used by Democrats.

Another woman, Francesca McDaniel, came forward to describe a 2015 date with Cawthorn in which he offered her a ride to a friend's house, but en route took a detour to stargaze. He asked why she didn't like him, and she answered she thought he was a "player." He proceeded to ask her questions about her sex life and explained that his genitalia was in working order, despite his accident. She said he pulled his car off the road and attempted to kiss her, which she rejected, saying she had a boyfriend. But she also felt overwhelmed: "I felt, like, pressured to give in to it because he started being aggressive, and he is a strong guy. He had buff arms and worked out his upper body a lot," she told WORLD Magazine. Telling him that her parents would be able to check her location via a GPS app and would be upset she hadn't made it to her friend's address, Cawthorn drove her to that location.

In October, BuzzFeed News reports some "160 members of the Patrick Henry community signed an open letter detailing "gross misconduct towards our female peers, public misrepresentation of his past, disorderly conduct that was against the school's student honor code, and self-admitted academic failings," including that Cawthorn 'established a reputation of predatory behavior.'" He responded on Facebook that had the endorsement of a "significant number of PHC alumni and former students who knew him well."

"The post was signed by just six people. Two worked for the campaign and a third was one of their relatives," BuzzFeed News added.

"More than 20 former Patrick Henry students told BuzzFeed News that Cawthorn harassed his women classmates. The students either said they experienced his sexually inappropriate behavior firsthand, comforted friends after a traumatizing incident, or were warned about his conduct by their dorm leaders. Although Cawthorn was only at the school for just over one semester, students said he quickly developed a reputation as someone who took advantage of and mistreated women," the website wrote.