Republican Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger said Republican North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s loss during the Tuesday primary election was “good” for the GOP and the country, according to a Wednesday appearance on CNN.
Kinzinger spoke on CNN with John Berman about Cawthorn’s loss to Republican North Carolina state Sen. Chuck Edwards and seemed to imply Cawthorn was more interested in “fame” than “actually governing.”
.@RepKinzinger on Rep. Madison Cawthorn losing his NC primary:
“It’s good for the country. It’s good for the party… it’s good to see him lose.”@JohnBerman pic.twitter.com/4sk3dGyf0I
— Joanna Preston (@JoPrestonTV) May 18, 2022
“Madison Cawthorn lost, how do you feel about that?” Berman asked.
“Well, it’s good. I mean it’s good for the country, it’s good for the party, it’s good for the 11th district of North Carolina,” Kinzinger responded. “I mean, you know, look, D.C. has become kind of a, a growing ground for people that are just more interested in fame than governing, that are more interested in becoming famous than actually doing really serious work in a time when, you know, we’ve got a lot of challenges here at home and a lot of challenges overseas, and so it was a good thing [Cawthorn] lost.” (RELATED: Trevor Noah Gives Rare Defense Of Rep. Madison Cawthorn)
In addition, Kinzinger said that his organization, Country First, was “on the ground” in North Carolina to ensure people turned out to vote in the primary. “I think we made an impact,” Kinzinger said. “It’s good to see [Cawthorn] lose.”
Cawthorn lost to Edwards in Tuesday’s primary election by a narrow margin, according to Yahoo News. He officially conceded to Edwards late Tuesday night, the outlet reported.
Cawthorn has come under scrutiny in recent months for allegedly driving with a revoked license and carrying a gun at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, as well as for claiming government leaders invited him to an orgy and did cocaine in front of him.
He won his congressional seat in November 2020, making him the youngest lawmaker in Congress at age 25.