Rep. Madison Cawthorn, who filed for candidacy in the state’s 13th Congressional District last month, spoke at a rally on Jan. 6 in front of the White House before rioters stormed the Capitol. | Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Rep. Madison Cawthorn is suing members of the North Carolina State Board of Elections who allege that he is ineligible for reelection because his involvement at a Jan. 6, 2021, White House rally that “amounted to an insurrection.”
Cawthorn (R-N.C.) , who filed for candidacy in the state’s 13th Congressional District last month, spoke at a rally on Jan. 6 in front of the White House before rioters stormed the Capitol. Then-President Donald Trump, whose speech headlined that rally, urged attendees to march on the Capitol, told them to “be strong” and said that “you’ll never take back our country with weakness.”
Trump supporters left that rally and swarmed the Capitol, some violently forcing their way inside the building in an effort to block congressional certification of Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. The insurrection left four rioters dead and more than 150 law enforcement officers injured. One officer died of a stroke after responding to the riot and multiple others died by suicide in the days after.
North Carolina election officials moving to block Cawthorn’s reelection bid cite Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits public officials from holding office if they have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the United States.