North Carolina GOP congressional candidate Madison Cawthorn removed language from his website that said an associate of his opponent quit his job to work for “non-white males … who aims to ruin white males.”
The website, MoeTaxes.com, pushes back on his Democratic opponent, retired Air Force Col. Moe Davis, for his positions on everything from the Second Amendment, the environment, foreign policy, and healthcare, among other issues. In one specific section, Cawthorn attacked his opponent’s association with a reporter, Tom Fiedler, who previously was the dean of the school of communication at Boston University before he left to work for Sen. Cory Booker’s presidential campaign in the spring of 2019.
The website stated that Fiedler, whom he claims “works with Moe Davis’ advocates,” has “quit his academia job in Boston to work for non-white males, like Cory Booker who aims to ruin white males.”
Cawthorn’s website also included a video of Fiedler explaining he decided to leave his job to work for a campaign, but added that he didn’t want to work for a candidate “who has enjoyed all of the privileges of being a white male.” He also said in the video that he believes the country needs to “make diversity our strength.”
In the time since Booker’s campaign folded, Fiedler began writing articles about Cawthorn for a nonprofit news website in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.
Cawthorn’s site was updated after the Bulwark published an article calling the language pertaining to Fielder “racist” and “a despicable smear.”
The website now reads: “He quit his academia job in Boston to become a political operative and is an unapologetic defender of left-wing identity politics,” and Cawthorn chalked up the first version to a “syntax error,” in a statement posted on Facebook.
“Unlike my opponent, who continues to defend calling for violence against his political opponents, I’m willing to correct language that doesn’t convey my intended meaning,” he wrote. “My intended meaning was, and is, to condemn left-wing identity politics that is dangerous and divisive. I have condemned racism and identity politics throughout my campaign including during my convention speech when I highlighted MLK’s vision for equality.”
Cawthorn brought up Fiedler’s explanation for picking the Booker campaign, saying, “He wanted to work for Booker because Booker was not a ‘white male.’”
The race between Cawthorn, who is 25 and would be the youngest person to serve in Congress if he wins, and Davis has garnered national attention given the seat for which they are competing was vacated by Mark Meadows, a Republican when he became President Trump’s chief of staff.
Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election tracker, rates the district as one that is “leaning Republican.” Recent polls show Davis with a slight advantage.
