Madison Cawthorn: Young Men Should Be “Punched in the Face” for Doing Stupid Things

The outgoing young congressman gives a bizarre final speech on the House floor.

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On Wednesday, outgoing North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn made a bizarre final speech on the House floor, jamming at least eight alpha male podcasts worth of toxic masculinity into a minute and 22 seconds. 

“It used to be a rite of passage in this country for young men to be punched in the face when they did something stupid,” Cawthorn said at the top of his remarks. “Our nation used to believe that there was strength and purpose in taking the hits, learning from your mistakes, and growing through the adversity.” 

According to Cawthorn, Americans are facing the consequences of a “participation trophy society.” The “nanny state” now controls the once mighty United States. People who identify as “soft metrosexual” are more valuable. The speech was something of a trademark swan song for the North Carolina congressman, who after months of embarrassing self-inflicted scandals, including tossing around claims about sex parties and lawmakers doing cocaine, lost a primary challenge in May.

So the question arises: Does Cawthorn identify as one of the young men in this country who should be physically assaulted for doing something stupid? Based on this list, it sure might seem so.

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