Rep. Madison Cawthorn: Dangerous Freedom 01:14:31

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Well, welcome back to the Jason and the House podcast. I'm Jason Chaffetz. Thanks for joining us for episode number two. So we got a lot happening this week. I'm honored that you would come listen to the podcast because we're going to talk through some thoughts on the news.

Not linger there too long, but hit some highlights there. Then we're going to present the stupid because, like I said, there's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere. I get a lot of questions about congressional stories. So I'll tell you some of the behind the scenes. You know, I try to do this every week. Little behind the scenes story of what really was going on and what really happened that nobody else saw except for

Just a handful of us. And then we'll phone a friend. We have, this week, one of my...

up and coming stars here in the conservative movement. That is Madison Cawthorn. He's the youngest member of Congress. If you recall his story, he had this tragic accident. Life seemed to be going really well for him. Great looking kid. He's coming out of high school. His life's ahead of him.

He's on the football team. You know, everything's moving well until he had this tragic accident, which left him paralyzed. And he spent more than a year in the hospital. And when you hear that part of his story, I mean, you've seen him in the news. You've seen him talking about, um,

conservative movement, why he wants to do certain things. What you really want to hear is how he got to this point in his life because not many people at age 25 are members of Congress and I tell you, it's going to be an inspirational story. So I think you're going to hear that. So with that, let's get going.

All right, so I just introduced a book this week. They Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste, The Truth About Disaster Liberalism. There's a hard copy. There's an audio version. There's a Kindle version. I did the audio in my own voice. And this whole premise is playing out right now in real time as we see things because Democrats have a formula. And what they do is they take a crisis and they

and they know that a crisis allows them to do things they would never ever be able to do otherwise. They get more government, more control, more money, more funding, more ability to pass things. And what happens is when government recognizes

that it gets unlimited powers in the middle of a crisis, guess what? The number of crises becomes unlimited. And it's not just big weighty things like COVID, it's other things as well. It's just a formula, it's a playbook, it's something I saw in my eight and a half years in Congress. And so I do have this new book out, They Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste of Truth About Disaster Liberalism. But I want to give some comments on some things that are playing out right now. One is, you couldn't avoid this story if you're paying any attention at all, but

Georgia had been working on revamping its voter laws for years, and they passed a piece of legislation where behind the scenes, a lot of the local companies and politicians and others were participating in every level, and they passed the law.

But you already knew what the Democrats were going to do with this because before it even passed, they were going to scream racism. They were going to scream voter suppression. They were going to start talking about Jim Crow laws. Like my wife and I were talking, like, what is it, Jim Crow? You know, there was this time where, unfortunately, there were a lot of laws put on the books decades and decades ago. It's not a pretty picture anymore.

trying to make things more difficult and try to segregate our society. And the Democrats had pre-written the script because they knew no matter what happened at the state legislature and with the Republican governor, they were going to claim Jim Crow 2.0. In fact, I saw Governor Kemp, who came out and said, look, they bought that domain name weeks before we even finished the legislation.

So they knew what they were going to do. They knew that they had this all in place ahead of time. But then some of these companies stepped in it and they decided that they were going to take this new law, which actually, if you go point by point,

I have yet to hear a Democrat tell me why it's voter suppression or why it's not fair. They take these sweeping generalizations and say, oh, it's not fair and it's suppressive and it's racist and you can't get water. And even Joe Biden tried to weigh in on it and the Washington Post gave him four Pinocchios. So,

Um, that isn't a good sign because they could not point to specifics, which should be a telltale sign that maybe just maybe they're trying to overreach here and use slogans and a traditional media that's usually compliant as opposed to going after it. And so Major League Baseball takes the bait. They decide to pay the ransom. They don't want to be accused of being racist or

you know, advocating suppression of voters or anything. So they take the bait and they say, oh, we're going to move the all-star game out of Atlanta. And I guess when you get that, you also get the draft and they're going to move it out of Atlanta. Well, so they decide just recently here that they're going to move it to Colorado. Well, they,

We can look at the different metrics and whatnot, but you cannot look at the Colorado voting laws and say that they're any better than what Georgia was doing. And I don't want to belabor it and get into it. I guess my point here is I think a lot of companies would be better off if they do what Michael Jordan suggested. Michael Jordan is the one who said, you know what? I sell sneakers to Republicans and Democrats.

You know, you go to a Major League Baseball game, gosh darn it, just sell me a hot dog, put on a good game. I want to see some freaks of nature hit the ball, run, catch a ball, throw a ball, and hit it over the fence. You know, you're supposed to go to baseball to get away from politics and all the stresses of life. And for Major League Baseball to get right in the middle of it now,

just causes all kinds of consternation that is not necessary. I think it's wrong. And I think companies of all sorts would do best to listen to Michael Jordan. Just sell shoes. Just sell hamburgers. Fly me on an airplane from point A to point B and bring me my luggage along with it. And make me a cola drink that maybe, you know,

is uh you know refreshing that that's what we ask of these companies not to engage in the middle of politics all right topic number two i want to talk about is governor ron desantis now ron desantis back in the day when he was in the house of representatives uh i actually sat with him on two committees because um he was on the oversight committee and he also um

I believe was also on the Judiciary Committee. And so we did a number of things together. And so I'm kind of proud of what he's doing because he has turned out to be a fantastic governor. You know, back in the day when he first ran for governor of Florida,

He wasn't so certain that he was going to win. In fact, a lot of us thought, oh, gosh, Ron, this is going to be tough. But he went out and beat a guy named Adam Putnam there for the Republican nomination, got great help from Donald Trump. But now he's had so much success. Florida is thriving. People are moving there in droves. He's taken the right approach, I think, on COVID and

And so, sure enough, Democrats and the liberal left and certainly traditional media are coming after him. So they try to do this 60-minute story, and you've really got to watch the clip online. It's all over social media. It's on Fox News and other places you can look at it, where 60 Minutes tried to carve up his discussion, and they cut out the whole middle explanation of why.

of the allegation they were throwing at him. They were throwing at Ron DeSantis that he was engaged in pay-to-play, that the reason Publix, a grocery store there in Florida, was able to have this vaccine distribution facility is because they had donated $100,000 to Ron's campaign.

Well, he refuted that and not just refuted it. He laid out in detail how fundamentally wrong that was. And of course, 60 Minutes parsed it up as if, you know, that Ron was this evil guy. You know it's bad. And this is part of the reason I want to highlight this. You got a stand up person in Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner.

Now, I never heard of Dave Kerner. I don't know who he is, but I can tell you that he is a Democrat who came out and called the 60 Minutes piece, and I quote, intentionally false, end quote. So when you have people on both sides of the aisle, not only Ron DeSantis defending himself, but you have a Democrat looking at the 60 Minutes piece saying, this was intentionally false, you know it's bad. And I think 60 Minutes...

is going to pay another price in terms of their credibility. I grew up watching 60 Minutes. That's what I did. I remember watching with my dad and my mom. It was the go-to thing on Sundays with Mike Wallace and all these people. But now after this story, it's really disappointing. But you know what? Hats off to Dave Kerner, a Democrat standing up doing the right thing when he sees balls and strikes.

I don't mind there's other people on the other side of the aisle. I want good quality people on the other side of the aisle. If you're going to be honest and call things out like that, more power to you. So anyway, I think that's been debunked. And good job by Ron DeSantis for the governor, DeSantis, for taking care of that. We'll tell some more DeSantis stories because tell you what, he's a major player on the big stage. Last thing I want to mention real quickly is immigration.

You know, we're seeing this play out. It is a crisis. I don't care what Joe Biden and Jen Psaki and anybody else says. There is a crisis on the southern border. I've been there several times, Texas, Arizona, California, looking at border operations and whatnot. And I got to tell you,

The Border Patrol is going through a horrendous time right now because they do not have the backing and the support of Mayorkas, the Homeland Security Secretary, the president or certainly the vice president, Kamala Harris, who's supposedly in charge of the border now and 12, 13.

13 days, almost two weeks into it. She hasn't even been down to the border, let alone giving a press conference or telling the nation what she's going to do. We have tens of thousands of kids that are piling up coming across the border. You've seen video of kids being thrown over the fence and the wall. It's just here's the threat. The threat is human trafficking, which by itself is enough to say it's a crisis.

You have drugs and illicit materials moving through. You just had two Yemenis, people from Yemen that were on the terrorist watch list, picked up coming across this border. You have a medical crisis, a human crisis in terms of COVID and who knows what other diseases. And let's also understand, when I went to the border,

I went to the Eloy detention facility, which is a bit north of the border, but there are, I think there's nine, I'd have to check, but I think there's nine detention centers there in Arizona. Well, in Eloy, we went to go visit that facility. There were people from more than 140 different countries there.

Don't think this is just the so-called triangle nations, you know, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. And it's not just Mexicans and others that are trying to come north. People from all over the world are coming through. And here, just literally, just recently, they catch people coming from Yemen that are on the terrorist watch list. So, you know, you have to consider that there is a national security risk as well.

But the big question, the thing I see that's not being talked about in the news, and this is the one point I really wanted to drive home about immigration, is, well, one point is there are less than 24 immigration judges in all of Arizona. So when you come across the border and if you claim asylum, you normally, you have to have a hearing and you have to have that case adjudicated.

Now, the way Trump set it up is you'd stay on the Mexican side until you actually got to do the adjudication process. And Mexico was good with that. We had a good relationship with them. So you can do that legally and lawfully. But there are other people that just come. They don't have an asylum claim. They just want in the country. They come here illegally. But guess what? Because of the overcrowding, how our border patrol is being overrun, they just release them back out into the homeland. These people do not...

have to get deported. They don't get pushed back. They just get, it's called catch and release. And so when you do that by the hundreds of thousands, the big question that ought to be asked that nobody's asked Joe Biden and certainly not Kamala Harris is, what are these people supposed to do? What are they supposed to do for job and income, housing, medicine, education? Like what are they all supposed to do?

So if you're here and you don't have a social security number, you can't because you're not here legally. You're not a United States citizen. You're not here on a green card.

What are they supposed to do for all those things? So nobody's I mean, I have I think others that are concerned about this have. But you can't tell me that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have a plan. And if it is, what is it? But I guarantee you they are going to give these people work authorization so they can compete against Americans for jobs. And we got an unemployment rate that we're trying to drive down.

But we're still adding like in the bathtub, we're just adding hundreds of thousands of people into that mix to say, go compete with Americans for these jobs. And and then who's going to pay for it if they can't get a job? Where are they supposed to house? You come here illegally. You get in a bus and they ship you to someplace. They were showing a bus that dropped people off at Casa Grande, Arizona. I've been to Casa Grande.

There's not much there. With all due respect, there's some gas stations. There's a couple of restaurants. But now what are they supposed to do? They got to spend the night. They got to eat. They got to go to the bathroom. Like, what are they supposed to do? That is so unfair and it is so wrong. It is so morally reprehensible. I think we have a bigger legal moral obligation to the people that are coming here legally and lawfully. And those are partly...

In part, I think those are the people that were really failing. They do the paperwork. They make the application. They get approved. And we do that about a million times a year. Legally, lawfully bring people in.

And instead, all these people sneak across the border. I could go on and on. We could do a whole thing on this. The point on immigration is, what are they supposed to do once they are released into the homeland? That's the big question that I think Kamala Harris needs to answer, and she hasn't. All right. Time to bring in the stupid, because there's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere. I got two this week, and I...

Very briefly, this was a CNN article. Lauren Holt on March 29th was talking about transgender rights and they were spotlighting Arizona and Tennessee. I just had to highlight this one sentence because I just think it's the stupidest sentence. This is what she wrote. This is what it says. It's not possible to know a person's gender identity at birth and there is no consensus criteria for

for assigning sex at birth, end quote. Just let that sink in. I'd let it sink in. I don't agree with that. I don't know. No consensus criteria for assigning sex at birth. Hmm. I don't know. I think that's pretty self-evident. But evidently, it's not for everybody. So we'll move on to topic number two. This happened in our own backyard here in Utah. We have a Salt Lake County Republican Party chairman in Scott Miller.

He wants to go on and run for state party chairman of the Republican Party. Even after all this whole fiasco we had here in Utah, he's still in the race. But the quick and short of it is he had this Dave Robinson. He's the Salt Lake County Republican Party unofficial communications director. I don't think he was paid. I think he was a volunteer volunteer.

But there were a lot of concerns by a number of women who had come forward to suggest that maybe his comments about women, their bodies, their looks, that type of thing, was really inappropriate. And so the Salt Lake Tribune brought him in for an interview where he had an opportunity to explain himself. And I want to give you the quote that was in the Salt Lake Tribune. And I got to tell you, I have read this quote several times before.

And it may be one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. And it's so embarrassing. But I got to bring it out because Republican, Democrat, there is no monopoly on stupid. So this is kind of right from the article when he was asked about whether he made inappropriate comments as Dave Robinson. He was asked whether he made inappropriate comments about women's bodies.

Robinson said he criticizes his own appearance in disparaging ways, and he also brought up his family's background in ranching. Quote,

Okay, I have a critical eye, but it doesn't mean that I'm degrading an individual. End quote. I think he stepped down the next day, is no longer in this position, but Scott Miller, who didn't dismiss this person, is still running. I'll let those two stories just sit out there, but they qualified for my criteria for there always is somebody doing something stupid somewhere. ♪

All right, let me transition to one quick congressional story.

I find myself being the chairman of the Oversight Committee. The Oversight Committee is one of 18 authorizing committees. The committee originally was founded in 1814, the long, rich history of the Oversight Committee, and had a number of big hearings and things happened along the way. A little side note, Abraham Lincoln actually sat on this committee back in the day when he was in Congress for two years. It was known under a different name, but the gyrations of the name have come and gone.

But at the time, it was the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. We had a big hearing because James Comey, the director of the FBI, had said that Hillary Clinton, despite her doing 10 minutes of whatever it was, all these things she did wrong, that they weren't going to prosecute her. So I actually called James Comey. I got him on the phone that day that he made that announcement. And I said, Director, we really need to do a hearing about this. He said, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I said, I said, I'd really like you to, you know, come. And he said, okay. And I said, do you want me to issue a subpoena? I mean, is that helpful? Does that like help you if there's a subpoena out there? He said, oh, no, no, no, no, no subpoena. I'll just come. Great. So we say, all right, when's best for you? And I'm like, literally, I said, okay, I'm going to take my phone away from my ear, that kind of thing. And it said, you know, when works best for you?

And I can't remember which day it ended up being on, but he said, you know, whatever. It was Thursday next week. Okay, sure. What if that works best for you? I think he kind of knew in the back of his mind that when he made this announcement, he was also going to have to come to Capitol Hill like the next week. So based on what he said, we just did that. Well, of course, the Democrats went just nuts there.

you know inappropriate you have to have you know proper notice and you know have to have this emergency meeting and all i can't tell you how many headlines popped out of this and i was like hey i just had a conversation with he told me what he wanted and that's what we decided to do

So here's the part of the story that most people didn't see. This hearing had been going for hours. I mean, hours. Now, when they go this long, we usually, as the chairman, I would go to one of my staff and I would slip them a note or I'd tell them in advance, hey, look, if you need a humanitarian break, like if you need to go to the restroom, no problem. Just let me know, you know, let our staff know, and then I'll go into recess for like five, ten minutes so you can use the restroom.

So this thing is going on and on. And I can see where we're going, that he thinks it's going to end, but it's not going to end. And so I say to, because the rule is in the house, each member gets five minutes to question the witness. There was only one witness and we were getting near the end. But there's a little known rule that he probably hadn't experienced before that was going to make this hearing go on.

So our staff scribbles a note and says, would you like a humanitarian break? And the note comes back and I read it and it says, the director is going to power through this. And I thought, all right, I tried to tell you. I mean, I'm trying to tell you that it's probably best to take a bathroom break, a little humanitarian break. Oh, no, James Comey wouldn't do that, wouldn't take a little advice, right?

So I invoke a rule that allows the chairman of the committee and equal time for the ranking member, that is, in this case, the Democrats, Elijah Cummings, where I can ask 30 minutes uninterrupted questions all the way through. And then Elijah Cummings, turn it over to him, who's since passed away.

uh for another 30 minutes plus we get to close out so that was another gosh probably hour and 20 minutes and i could just see him squirming and i'm just smiling like i tried to give you a chance tried to tell you tried to tell you go to the bathroom but you wouldn't listen to me wouldn't listen to anybody james comey so he did power through it but boy he scooted out of there pretty fast after that hearing too and i think for a variety of reasons but

Those little things happen behind the scenes. I hope that makes sense. All right. Time to do one of my favorite things, which is phone the friend. And before I call Madison Cawthorn, I thought I'd give a quick call to my friend Trey Gowdy. I haven't chatted with him in a little bit, but his mobile phone's not working as well as I thought it would. So he's got this house line. Let's just try this. Let's call Trey. I got a quick question or two for him before we call Madison.

Hey, this is Trey. Thanks for calling. Leave a message unless it's Jason Chaffetz. Jason, I've actually changed my cell phone number. It's not even a number anymore. It's a series of symbols. So if you're trying to get in touch with me, you're not going to be able to. So hopefully we'll bump into each other at some point. Otherwise, I'll see you on the other side.

All right. So, you know, I guess we'll figure out a way to talk to Trey another time, another way. So sorry, Trey's not available. That was quite the ring he had on his line there, but all right, let's, let's talk to Madison Cawthorn. Now,

Madison just got married. He married Christina. So happy for him. So excited. This is, he's 25 years old. He's getting married. And I think he got married literally the same day, like years after his accident. I can't remember how many years. It's like seven years since his accident. Anyway, I just thrilled for him. But I was able to get him on the phone just before he got married.

Madison Cawthorn is from North Carolina's 11th district, youngest member of Congress, 25 years old, went through this tragedy. But I got to tell you, I am just thrilled. So please help me welcome Madison Cawthorn.

Congressman, thanks for joining us. Jason, it's an honor to be on with you. You know what? Earlier in the month, we were both on Fox and Friends, and you were asking me questions, and I said on air something I want to reiterate right now. You've been a big hero of mine since I was probably about, I don't know, 13 or so. I always looked up to you and Trey Gowdy. You guys had that lack of demoting and Spartan way you spoke, but anything you said really just captured the audience in awe. And I grew up watching Facebook, you know,

15 second clips of you ripping people apart in the oversight committee. And so you really inspired me to get involved and to be an active voice, not just somebody who's sitting on the sidelines. Well, thank you. Thank you. I got to tell you, I'm honored that you would say that. It's also, you know, there are many 13 year olds that are out there watching me, you know, rip somebody from the Environmental Protection Agency. So,

That's kind of what I want to talk about today. There's lots of policy stuff we could dive into and go down that rabbit hole and spend hours. But what I'd really love to do today with you is kind of why are you a conservative? Because quite frankly, a lot of young people aren't. They think it's later in life that they kind of start to realize that maybe personal responsibility and things like that are important things.

things in their lives. But that's what I want to walk through. If that's okay with you, Congressman, by the way, are you, do you like when people, when somebody says Congressman, do you like turn around now?

Well, no, I still look around. I'm like, who are they talking to? Just because I'm like, oh, wow, there's a congressman in the room. I get excited. But then I realize it's me. So the August Chamber and the Capitol building and just the honor of getting to serve 700,000 people is definitely not lost on me. I kind of nerd out over it almost every night. So just tell me about growing up. I want to go back to like what are your parents doing?

do. And tell me about your early childhood. What was it like growing up? Because you're like eighth generation North Carolinian, right? Indeed. So I have basically, I basically stole the birthright from one of my cousins. And I believe I am next in line to receive a document that's been in my family for eight generations. And it was to my, one of my very, very great grandfathers from the King. It was a land grant.

that as long as he went out and surveyed the land and helped them work with all the maps, he was going to give them this mega amount of acreage in western North Carolina. Obviously, the only thing out there was the Cherokee Indians. My family's been there for quite a while. Then the man who received that land grant from the king

His grandson then actually fought against the crown for our liberty. So one of the three percent of the actual American population in North America at the time who fought against in the actual battles. And so, you know, I think that's a great heritage to receive.

you know, I don't know what the, uh, the, the latter generations did with all that land because I have not ever seen any of it, but I, uh, I do grow up, you know, seeing, seeing, you know, my forefathers names on plaques, like this land was granted to the mud Creek Badgers church from, you know, some so-and-so McMahon. And so it's pretty incredible, but, uh,

I grew up with this sense of service, I guess, that's just in my DNA. My forefathers actually fought in the Revolutionary War. My dad, an incredible man, somebody who really wanted to instill the values of duty in me. He was a Marine. Almost every generation of Cawthorn has been a Marine since the late 1770s.

And Jason, I'll tell you, I wasn't allowed to join the Marine Corps after my accident because they want you to be able to run to fight a war, which I think is really just asinine because I'm very deadly downhill. You can roll past a lot of people, can't you?

I can indeed. I can indeed. But you know what? I, uh, so I, I had been nominated by my Congressman, which I know you know that process well to go to the Naval Academy. I had received, uh, I had received a incredible, um, uh, full ride ROTC scholarship to NC state, uh, when I was 18 years old. Um, but then, you know, I stepped into a car and it was really good. The last step I ever took because my friend fell asleep at a wheel. We ran into a concrete barricade. Um, it,

And then, you know, it was in that moment that my father's lessons of duty and of never giving up and of persevering really, really got me through that terrible, you know, ordeal that ended up with me being paralyzed from the waist down. I was in the hospital for over a year.

And I was in the ICU for a very long time. But, you know, after I got out of the hospital, you know, I was back in Western North Carolina. We were staying at, you know, a midway house, basically somebody who had said, hey, come use my home while they're renovating your house because everything had to be changed. And, you know, Jason, things got really dark then. I really started, you know, considering, you know, what do I have value? Do I even matter?

And then I was kind of just living this half-life where I was alive, and I had a great family, but they were all sacrificing for me day and day trying to help me recover. But I just don't have the will to live because who wants to live in a wheelchair?

Talk a little bit more about that. Do you have brothers, sisters, siblings at all? I do, yes. So I've got one older brother who easily could have stepped in to be my father. I mean, he was so mature from a very young age. And so I was lucky enough to have two really great masculine figures in my home that I got to grow up with. But, you know, credit to my father. He really pulled me out of that deep,

near depression, you know, pit I was in. And he basically said, you know, encourage me to make the ultimatum. Am I going to continue life and live in spite of being a wheelchair? Am I just going to let it dominate me? And he said, if that's the case, then you, you probably, that that's a waste of time and just, you know, and so that was a hard decision for me. So I literally made a T-graph

with pros and cons of continuing to live. And at the end of it, I decided I was gonna continue to live out my life because I knew I could still make a difference. And from that point on, I've never let the wheelchair define me. I'll still let myself grieve every now and then, but I never let the wheelchair define me. And so when I saw that my country was going down the drain, I saw that our culture was destroying itself, that made me wanna get involved in politics.

So when you were going back making that T-graph that you were talking about and that you were going to contribute and that your life mattered, I mean, you weren't saying, hey, I'm going to be in the Congress, right? I mean, what was it that was driving you? What was, like, where did you want to make a difference? Why did you want to make a difference?

Well, you know, the biggest thing, you know, going back to where you said that not many 13 year olds are watching you on the oversight and government reform committee. Really, when I became a young teenager, I started spending the night over at my friend's house a lot. I was shocked to see that, you know, they would just watch, you know, cartoons or watch weird shows with their family over dinner. And, you know, they didn't eat dinner in a centralized location. It would just say, OK, the meal's ready.

And people would go eat in their rooms. I thought it was so strange because the way I grew up, Jason, I literally ate almost every single meal with my family. And a very common talking point is, you know, my dad would say, oh, hey, you know, I was heard on Rush Limbaugh today that they're deciding to increase the debt ceiling again today. What do you guys think of that? And, you know, talking about current events, talking about politics was a very normal thing in my household.

And so when I say that, I knew I could still make a difference. You say that there's no way I was thinking Congress. I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't say that actually is true. You know, I wasn't necessarily thinking Congress, but I knew that there were opportunities for me to serve my country in ways that were not the military. So whether that was working in the government in some way, working in the administration somehow, or being an elector.

official, whether it was a city council or whether it's a Senator, I knew that I could still make a difference. And, you know, as I said, you know, I had these very strongly held beliefs about my country because of the way I was raised. You know, it's interesting because when I was growing up, my parents, we ate meals together, but my parents would not let me watch television while we were having that meal. And what they would do is in the morning, my younger brother, Alex and I would come out there and my dad would only let us look at the newspaper and

And first it was sort of the comics and then the sports section. But then it was the full paper to the point where I kind of expected it, enjoyed it. And that's how I kept up on current events. And I felt like, gosh, I actually know about the world around me because I'd looked at the newspaper for 15 minutes every morning.

Exactly. You know what happened? I realized from a young age that having that perspective, you know, it allowed me after we had been having those conversations or watching Fox News as a kid or, you know, maybe listening to Rush Limbaugh or reading the paper every now and then. It allowed me, you know, I was, you know, because my entire perspective was only, you know, probably an eight year span by the time I'm 16 years old. I was like, wait a minute. I remember when they promised they were going to do this. That doesn't make any sense. Yeah.

And so from a young age, you realize that some of these politicians don't have the best interests of Americans in the heart. Yeah, you figured that out pretty early. Good for you. Okay, so let's go back. You've spent a year in the hospital. Your parents are pouring all types of emotional effort and finances into fixing and retrofitting your home.

You're there. And then what? I mean, here you are. You're how old at this point? 18, 19 years old? 19 at this point. So you're 19 years old. And you say to yourself, what do you say to yourself? What am I going to do next? Now that you're like, okay, I've got to continue to do rehab. I got to build up the strength because I can only imagine the atrophy that happens to your body through that year.

And you build that strength up so that you can be self-sufficient and be in that wheelchair. But then what? Where do you go from there?

Well, you know what? This is kind of where – and I'm a very strong Christian, and so I don't want to get too religious on this in respect of other people's views. But I got to say, I think this is where God really intervened in my life because my debate coach and the man that nominated me to go to the Naval Academy was a dear friend because he had literally been my debate coach when I was growing up. And he was a congressman, and so my family every year got invited to his election victory party.

This is Mark Meadows.

And so while he's praying for me, you know, this picture is taken. If I go back and look at it to talk about the atrophy, you know, I lost almost 80 pounds from the time I got in an accident to that point. And so I almost looked like a fragile skeleton.

in that picture but you know then he says madison what are you doing what's going on i said oh i'm doing rehab and everything and this is what's going on and he said he pulled out his card and as you know you know not all of our uh not all of our business cards are made the same because you know there's there's ones you give to the press and there's some angry constituents but then there's also the one with your personal phone number on there and so he gave me his personal number and he said madison i want you to come work for me call me directly whenever you're ready

And so a few months go by and I decide, you know, mom, I think I'm going to go work for Congressman Meadows. And so I give him a call. No idea what that would mean if he meant as an intern. But he offers me this this full time position, but with a lot of exceptions made. And I'm saying, you know, if you need to work from home these days, you know, he gave me a lot of duties that I could do remotely. And so I became his staff assistant in the district.

And, you know, as I say, that's kind of where God almost intervened in my life. Because like you were saying, where do you go from here? Because I was so focused, narrowly focused on my physical recovery. I didn't I wasn't even thinking, where am I going to be when I'm 25? Where am I going to be when I'm 30? Mark Meadows is about as conservative as they get. He and I served in the Congress together. And obviously he went on to become the White House chief of staff and did a fantastic job there. But

You know, you didn't have to be a conservative, but why were you conservative?

You know, that's a great question. And, you know, like you were saying, most people don't become conservative until much later on in life. And, you know, there's that famous saying, if you do not have if you're not a liberal one year in college, you don't have a heart. And if you're not a conservative when you're 50, you don't have a brain. Right. But I kind of realized that because a lot of the Republican messaging, you know, just to speak frankly, it really sucked because it always came across so negative. It just came across as the party of no.

And I became a real conservative because I always wanted to ask myself, do I want to have the government come and take care of me or do I want to live on my own means? So I'm a Republican because I believe that personal liberty will always triumph over collective tyranny. And I'm also a Republican because I would much rather prefer –

dangerous freedom to safe subjugation. Well said. Well said. Now, that's an interesting choice because I think in your state there, a lot of people would choose to have self-pity and to say, you know what, somebody owes me something and so the government should be paying and taking care of all that for me.

Well, you know what? You bring up a really good point, Jason. And a lot of conservatives, it's odd for a man in a wheelchair to be a conservative in a lot of ways because a lot of people do get caught in this victimhood mentality where they say, oh, my life's not fair, so I need the government to come take care of me because that's just not fair that I'm in a wheelchair.

Whereas, you know, as I came to be and I was working in my congressman's office and getting more mature, I realized that I had this unique opportunity to really speak to my generation. This was well before I ever considered running for Congress. You know, I knew I probably I would want to run for Congress maybe one day, but I was thinking when I was 50, not when I'm 25. But, you know, in my 20s, I realized that I had this very unique perspective.

Because I was raised as a Rush Limbaugh child. I mean, I grew up listening to Jason Chivetz, you know, just kick ass and take names in the oversight committee and listening to Rush Limbaugh, you know, speak through his gold microphone all the time. So I had these very strong conservative principles. But I also had the opportunity to have an incredible amount of empathy.

Because I had gone through something so traumatic. And I think a lot of conservatives, they live very blessed lives. And because of that, that's why I think that our messaging used to, in plain terms, really suck.

because our message, our messaging, you know, as, as you know, Jason used to just be, Oh, we'll pull yourself up by your bootstraps, but you need to connect to people on their heart and tell them why they should want to pull themselves up by the bootstraps. Because if I give you a fish, you'll eat for a day. But if I give you a fishing pole, you'll be able to eat for your life. No, it's so true. You know, as I get a chance and an opportunity to,

To go still, even though I've left Congress, to go out and speak around the country. This is what I talk about. I talk about conservatives got to explain why they believe what they believe. They got to speak from their heart. They got to show that they understand. And every single person in that audience has had some sort of heartache or tragedy or, you know, both of my parents passed away from cancer. My parents went through divorce. You know, these are the things that

they give you a backbone. They, they, they define who you are and you can either turn towards love and self-reliance and a lot of positive kind of conservative things, or you can become bitter and, and mad. And I,

Unfortunately, I see a lot of liberals. They go out there and they preach tolerance, but they're some of the least tolerant people I meet. They are just flat out mean to people and they're grumpy and they're angry. And I like what I've heard others say, Mike Pence and others, I've heard them say, look, I'm a conservative, but I'm not mad about it. I love this country and I owe so much to this country. And

I think that's what's exciting about your voice because you really can share a message of hope and prosperity, but also in that sort of Ronald Reagan vision of this shining light up on this beacon of opportunity that the United States is.

Well, you're absolutely right. This boils down to a simple point of where I'm able to connect with a lot of young people, Jason. I've got a great relationship with Tommy Lahren. She's an incredible commentator. She's on Fox Nation right now. And her and I oftentimes, whenever we're together, we've gotten to speak to a lot of students and young people together in a lot of forms. And we always just kind of talk about how being a Republican is simply more fun.

And I know that that seems like a very superficial thing to say, but we have a right to pursue happiness. That's a God-given right, and it's inalienable. And unfortunately, the Democrats live in this outrage culture where they genuinely believe if you're not screaming at the top of your lungs about the

patriarchy or about racism or about sexism or about gun violence or about LGBTQ rights or about the ability to call somebody tree self or call them the tree because they believe they're a tree. Yeah.

then you're not somebody who cares about your fellow man, your fellow woman. But that couldn't be further from the truth. I don't live in an outrage culture because I respect my neighbor. I don't need to coddle him and say, hey, you know what? Everything in your life is the fault of these people.

Because that's extremism. And extremism feels good, so I can understand why it's so intoxicating for the people on the left to go out and riot all the time so they can always blame all of the problems in their life on somebody else. But I'm a Republican because I believe in personal responsibility. And I believe that no matter what bad hand I was dealt, the fact that I am in a wheelchair, I was so close to death that I was asleep in a car and ran into a concrete barricade by no fault of my own.

uh that does not mean that i need to feel outraged and be a victim that means that i need to take my life into my own hands and realize that yes i have to work six times harder just to achieve the same amount of notoriety and achievement as my fellow fellow people who can walk

But that's worth it because I take personal responsibility for my life, and I do not need a government or I do not need a handout or not need some social justice warrior to come and say, hey, you know what? It's okay that you didn't win your election because you're in a wheelchair. I say no to that. I say I will win my election by God even if I am in a wheelchair. I will outwork anyone, and that's why I'm a Republican.

Well, I got to tell you, it's inspirational to a lot of us, and I hope everybody continues to hear that message.

You're listening to Jason in the House. We'll be right back with more of the conversation with Representative Madison Cawthorn right after this.

We're back with Madison Cawthorn, the congressman from North Carolina's 11th district. And let's go back if we can to that journey, because there you are, Congressman Meadows, out there doing the right thing, caring for you and concerned about you when you're in the hospital. Good for him. And then gives you this job and this opportunity. Walk us through how you came to the point where

You actually, when he left, there was an opportunity and you grabbed it. And it wasn't so clear, Madison, that you were going to become the next congressman from that district. You had millions of dollars raining down on you.

Well, you know, this is credit to my soon-to-be wife coming up on April 3rd, Christina Byardell, because soon-to-be Christina Cawthorn. And really this is to her credit because I proposed to this young lady, and then about three or four days later, Mark Meadows announced that he will be stepping down from his seat and that he is going to be the chief of staff at the White House.

And then all of a sudden, this young lady and I had planned our entire life out basically, and we were just going to have a lot of fun through our 20s. We were going to start having kids in our 30s, and life was just going to be a dream. And then I said, hey, honey, you know what? I think our country really needs us, and I think I need to go to Congress and rewind from that point a little bit.

because I had just been offered, let's go back to when I was offered a job from Mark Meadows. This is a man who has been a mentor to me for several years. He's my debate coach. He had nominated me to the United States Naval Academy.

And this terrible accident happens. I go through a lot. He's really good to me through there. Then he offers me a job. And to tell you how unprepared I was to enter the workforce is an understatement, just medically speaking. But I mean, even just how to be in a workforce in a wheelchair. I literally called Governor Abbott's office in Texas. You know, he's in a wheelchair as well. And I asked his staff assistant, I said, hey, how does how does the governor cut his suit so that they don't get caught in his wheels?

Because as you know, suits drop way below your waistline. And so she said, I'll get that information for you, sir, and goes about her business. And then the good governor sent me the details of how he cuts the suits. And then I started getting to work for Congressman Meadows. And I was extraordinarily weak at this point. Physically, I could barely sit up for more than a few hours.

And I had a lot of problems to overcome, but this gave me a reason. It gave me a lot of pride to be able to do things. So it worked for him for about two years, and then I took about six months off for another surgery. But then I'm starting to become myself really soon. I can handle life at this point. So I said, you know what? I might need to go get a degree.

And so then I enroll in college. And now let me tell you, I do not believe that another four-year degree in Egyptology is going to make our economy a better place. And I held this belief even before I entered the college. But then I got accepted to a lot of places and decided to go to a small college outside of D.C. And I go there, and as I'm going through, I guess, the prerequisites, all the classes you have to take in your underclassmen years,

And I'm talking to a group of friends of mine saying, why are we here? I mean, this is great stuff to learn. I'm becoming more well-rounded, but none of this is going to make me a more capable business leader. I want to own my own company. I don't want to be able to teach a class in an auditorium.

And so, you know, at that point, my one of my best friends and I, we decided we were going to leave college. And so we went through for a full year to get the best go we could. And then we decide, you know, college is unnecessary for our particular route in life. And I wish more people would realize that because we wouldn't have such a debt crisis and an internal generation of eternal renters anymore. But anyway, so I make this decision. I go back home to Western North Carolina.

I started doing a lot of public speaking. I'm really enjoying that. I do a little preaching here and there. So I'm making some money from that. But then I find out that there's an incredible opportunity to start a real estate investment firm and really specialize in being able to buy tax foreclosure properties.

So that was my plan. We executed the plan brilliantly and everything was going well with my business. I had started it in the year of 2019 and late that year. And so it was going well. I then get engaged.

And then Congress Meadows announces that he's not running again. There were a lot of different factors that played into why this was such a unique opportunity to run for Congress as a 25-year-old. And so I was 24 at the time, and I go to my fiancé and I said, hey, honey, I know we had this whole life plan, but I think I'm going to need to run for Congress instead.

And, you know, the reason I really wanted to do is because, you know, her and I have those normal conversations, Jason, of how many quite how many babies you want to have, when you want to have them. And then her and I both agreed that, you know, this culture is awful. It is it is acidic and it's going to destroy our country. And I don't want to raise a kid. And so then that's what that's what makes me decide to run for Congress. So you put your hat in the ring, but some others put the hat in the ring. And I think if I'm not wrong, Congressman Meadows actually endorsed somebody else.

as crazy as it is, as much as time as we had spent together, you know, I figured that I was going to, he was going to back me a hundred percent. So, you know, I gave him a call right before I was going, I was headed to our state Capitol sign up. And I said, Hey, Hey, you know, Congressman Meadows, I think I'm going to run. I think I'm gonna run for Congress for your old seat. Um, is that okay with you? And then he would say, well, Madison, you know, there's a lot of other people getting in. Um, and then, you know, he was telling me that, you know, my wife is behind somebody I'm staying out of everything. Uh,

Um, and so, you know, that, that was, I said, okay, well, that's fine. As long as, as long as, you know, as long as you're, I'm not, I'm not offending you in some way as to run. He said, oh no, no, no. You do what's best for you. Yeah, it was great. And so, so I run for Congress.

And 12 other people got in the race, incredible business leaders, a former state senator, just an incredible august group of people who I all would have valued to have as a mentor. And one person in particular who was being backed by Debbie Meadows, the wife of Congressman Meadows at the time chief of staff Meadows. And they were close personal friends, and there was a young woman who was running against me who was also a true conservative.

And so we were going head to head in this 12-way primary. And I'll tell you, I was written off by everybody in the room. I would go to these GOP meetings and there were all 12 candidates showing up. And we got to the point where we could give each other stump speeches, as I'm sure you know this well, Jason. And so we...

I get to this point where everything's going well in the race, but I'm just lost in the crowd. And I'm using all the normal talking points. I had a great team around me. And then I realized, wow, this is not going anywhere. There's one person who practically has the blessing of Mark Meadows. She's going to be a juggernaut to deal with.

But then everybody would tell me, you know, Madison, I love all of your positions. I love your passion. You're great. You're what this party needs. But you've got to wait in line a little bit. It's not necessarily your turn. There's a lot of people who have been putting in a lot of time and effort to the GOP. And, you know, it's really their time to rise up and go to Washington. And, you know, this was what I heard over and over, all over the place. And so then I kind of get frustrated and I work with my best friend, the friend who had also left college at the same time as me.

He had gone back to Texas, very similar to say, well, you may all go to hell and I'll go back to Texas. But he went back. He started a very successful steel company and fireworks company, imports and exports. Everything was going great with him. And I called him. I said, hey, man, I need you to come help me for eight weeks to win a primary. And he was like, you know what? I'm a true friend. You call. I'm there. So he shows up. And I'm frustrated. Man, we've got to change our campaign plan because this just isn't going to work.

And so we realized that, you know, we've never run a campaign before. We need to do something completely different than what they're doing. And so we decided to run our campaign kind of like the movie Moneyball, where, you know, we go up to this 30,000 foot view and say, how many votes does it take to win Western North Carolina? You know, you got 390,000 votes you need to get. And so we break it all the way down to the granular level of how many votes do we need out of every single neighborhood? And then I said, you know what? Screw these normal talking points. I'm just going to go speak from the heart.

And I would go to all these little town hall meetings and speak in front of everybody. And there was a big forum coming up, really the official GOP debate for this thing. And there's 12 of us there. And we go and we're sitting, there's probably, you know, five, 600 people in the auditorium. It's being live streamed on local media networks. Everybody's watching, you know, really whoever wins this debate is going to be the next congressman from Western North Carolina. And, um,

And so we're all there. And so really, you know, whoever wins this debate is going to be the next Congress from Western North Carolina, just because the way the district's strong. And I realized that with this huge opportunity I have and I say, you know, I either I'm going to put it all on the line tonight. I'm just going to go all out and see how it goes.

So, you know, the debate starts and, you know, for my opening remarks, you know, I just decide, you know, I'm just going to be unapologetically me. And, you know, I just watched the 2016 race with President Trump. So, you know, obviously I'm excited for a debate. I'm wanting to do a well, because you'd be in jail moment. And then, you

You know, they say at the very beginning, you know, these people may you can choose to stand if you'd like to give your opening remarks for three minutes. And with 12 people, it's taking forever. And by the time it gets to me, almost towards the very end, everybody's practically numb to the talking points of secure border. We need to protect President Trump and we need to protect our Second Amendment. And these are all things we all believe. So it was it was difficult to stand out.

And so then I roll out to the front and, you know, as I said, they said, you can stand if you'd like. And I said, well, I think by the end of this, you'll see that I stand tall enough on my own. And then I look to the crowd and I say, you know, I've been all around this district, been all around these mountains and everybody always tells me you've got the right values, got the right passion, but you need to wait in line. And then I took a pause and I said,

Who the hell are we in line behind? Because whoever's come before me is leaving our country on fire. They are not supporting our president. They say they're Republicans. They say they're conservatives, but they're spineless, cowardly people with no backbone. And I mean, this instantly gets everybody's attention. And I said, you know, and I look around. I said, you know what?

I appreciate the shoulders of the giants that I stand on who have come before me, but I am not going to wait in line. I'm not going to wait for my turn because if I wait until I'm 50, this country will not exist by the time I get there. And then it's basically a knife fight in a phone booth, and I just start delivering this empathetic, conservative message. Like I said, I had this unique perspective on it where it was empathy matched with great principles.

And, you know, then from that point on, everything was going great and to the point that, you know, it was very clear I was going to win this election. So then, you know, President Trump gets involved and endorses my opponent, who is the friend of former Congressman Meadows. Then Congressman Meadows gets involved and endorses her.

And so it's this huge uphill battle. But then, you know, by saying what we said, so many people wanted to get involved in our campaign. And when they did, because of the way we designed our election or our process, you know, we could say, hey, well, I don't need three hundred ninety thousand votes from you, but I need seven votes out of your neighborhood.

And then we'd follow up with them. So we had a grassroots army. And by the time the election came, it was not necessarily about me. It was about a movement. And this was a movement that I think is still taking root today. That is – I can tell you, listening to your story, it just gives me a little tingle down my own spine, the back of my head, because –

That's exactly what I was going up against a 12 year incumbent Republican. I decided to take on one of our own. And I had a couple of those seminal moments where I,

you know somebody said to me well what are you going to say at this pivotal speech and i said i don't know i'm just going to let it rip and and that was kind of my style and you know what i think authenticity does win the day authenticity just get it it turned into much more of a movement because we were all volunteers they said look i'm a volunteer i need you to volunteer and we ended up having thousands of people that were out there in their own neighborhoods talking about it

And, you know, it's tough to unseat a 12-year incumbent Republican with every endorsement. All the senators, the governor, I mean, everybody was out there endorsing my opponent. George W. Bush came out in favor of my opponent. I mean, they were all there. So it sort of had some similarities. But then I won by 20 percentage points. It really wasn't close at the end of the day. So it's very similar, I think, to...

But good for you. I ended up winning by 33%. And I think you're absolutely right. The American people, they're rugged, they're individualistic, and they can recognize when somebody's being real or when somebody just memorized a talking point on a piece of paper.

or if it's coming from their heart. And, you know, that was a reason why anytime, you know, I would hear on Hannity or, or, or anything that, you know, Oh, we're going to have either Mark Meadows, Jim Jordan, or Jason Chabetz or Trey Gowdy on our show tonight. You know, I was always at the TV watching that growing up because it was so evident that you guys was in specifically you, Jason really believe what you were saying, that it was coming from the heart and it was authentic. And I think that's what the American people crave. And that's what our party needs to be about.

So let me ask you, we've got just a short amount of time here, but so now you're in Congress. I mean, you go out and you beat the Democrat again. They rained millions of dollars down on you and you still prevailed. It's very good conservative part of the world where you where you come from. Thank goodness.

How is Congress different in your first couple months? I mean, I look at what you're going through. I think I sent you a message a few weeks into it and said, hey, I just want you to know it's not always like this. It's not always this crazy. But then a couple of months now I've gone by and it's still crazy town. So give me the best point and the worst thing that you see there on Capitol Hill.

Oh, absolutely. So the worst thing is, you know, as soon as you make a conservative move, as soon as you give a fiery floor speech that is going to light at the base, you know, it's almost as if on cue, my comms director and I really have this down pat. We know, okay, we're going to see an article, an attack article from the Washington Post, then from the New York Times, then it's going to get on CNN. That's

That's going to bolster it. They're going to be on a couple of late night talk shows. And, you know, I came out against the Second Amendment. Now, I was really just saying, you know, you want to take my guns, Madam Speaker? Come and take them.

And, you know, it's something that fired up the base where you're like, hey, we are drawing a line in the sand. You're not going to take our firearms away. And then, you know, instantly the media starts attacking and the Democrats are basically to the point where they want to spit on you. And, you know, it was very difficult for me because when I came in, you know, being 25 years old, I think there was this perception that I was haughty and that I wouldn't respect the position. I wasn't a serious legislator. I just wanted to see my name in the news.

And so, you know, I've fortunately been able to prove to my colleagues that that's not the case, that I'm here to actually make a difference for people and be a serious legislator. And so I here in Washington, I feel like I'm the most hated person in the world. You know, I feel like it's my staff and I in the trenches.

And then I get on an airplane. I'm like, wow. I mean, you know, I'm doing my duty. I get to fight for these people that I love in my hometown. I'm like, man, everybody hates me. Am I doing the right thing? Am I doing a good job? And then I fly. I land on Airport Road in Western North Carolina. I get out, and this is something we do every single time. We then go from straight from that flight, we go to a very nearby Cracker Barrel right there in town.

And as soon as I roll in, you know, Jason, it is so many people, you know, whether they're old, coming up with tears in their eyes, praying over me, shaking my hand and saying, thank you for fighting for the future of my grandchildren. I know I can pass into the night now with the faith that, you know, they're going to be protected.

And or it's young people coming up saying, you think you were being a voice for our generation? I never felt like anybody. I thought I was all alone. But, you know, now I'm getting really involved and I'm just wanting to speak out. Or if it's people with parents who are young children and saying, hey, man, thanks for caring about dining room politics and not just saying, well, we need incremental GDP change at the end of every single quarter.

But, you know, I'm out there saying, hey, you know, we need to put food on the table for this four year old daughter. Make sure she has a school to go to. Make sure she's going to be safe. Make sure there's going to be no there's no there's no human trafficking going on in her town and just things that matter to real Americans. And then, you know, after that happened the first time, I realized that I am willing to fight as hard as I possibly can in Washington, because if I'm hated in Washington, D.C., but beloved in Western North Carolina, then I'm doing my job.

Man, you got your head screwed on straight because I tell you, so many people there, I think, sort of miss that. And I felt the same way. I can't tell you how many times I slept in my office. I was one of those office dwellers and I...

rolled off my cot and I got up and said my little prayers. And then, and I thought, oh my gosh, we have a battle and a half today. And who is there anybody other than, you know, Trey Gowdy and Jordan and Meadows and John Radcliffe, you know, I could name on like two hands, the people that I knew that would be supportive and, and, and would be fighters, uh,

And then you just feel so beat up because the whole machine there between the media and the Democrats, they just, but then you're right. You need, when you roll back into town and, uh, and people are just so glad, like they didn't expect to see you. And then they're so excited to see you because they know you're fighting. And, and that's, that's a great message. One last thought. And then I've got some quick 10 questions for you, but, um, where do you go from here? What do you want to see happen?

Well, you know, one thing I really want to get a lot of young patriots elected from all over the place, because, you know, I think that if we bring a message of conservative empathy, then, you know, we're not only just going to win in these R plus 20 districts. But, you know, I got redistricted into a very liberal district, our very R plus one district. So very close because of a court order redistricting.

And so I realize that this conservative message paired with empathy and paired with passion, it can win these districts that are difficult to win for most people because it brings people out to vote where they say, you know, the only part I'm ever going to have to vote is for President Trump.

but you know but then there's the real americans who say you know but you make me excited to be an american you make you reminding of our fighting ethos the fact that we are not descended from fearful men but the fact that we are here to stand up and fight for the next generation and then those people kind of vote and so from here i want to go inspire more young people to run inspire more young conservatives and make it more mainstream to be a pro-freedom pro-liberty pro-dangerous freedom

But then if I could do anything in my life, I want to serve here for a little while. I want to be able to get term limits on Congress. I want to help defeat the establishment here in Washington, D.C. Then go back to Western North Carolina after I do all that, get rid of the federal income tax.

you know, help make our help expand opportunity zones and go back to Western North Carolina and raise my family. And then, you know, after my family's raised, I'd love to be the governor of North Carolina or whatever, whatever God has for me. But, you know, that's, that's really my life plan. I'm just, I'm just ready to serve and I can't wait to start having babies and, you know, just, just really live my life. Well, and congratulations, you and your new wife here, here coming up. So,

I'm excited for you. All right. So I have this little thing about how to even get to know you a little bit better. Are you game for that? We're going to ask you 10 kind of, I think it's 10 really fast questions. Oh, let's go fastball. I'm ready, Jason. Fastball. Here we go. Okay. Ready? Favorite vegetable. Favorite vegetable is going to have, well, potato is actually a starch. Oh, goodness. Water chestnuts.

Water chestnuts. Okay, that's an interesting answer. That's a nut, isn't it? I mean, it's not even a vegetable. Hey, if those are the vegetables you're eating, just go with what comes to mind. If you think you're eating vegetables without water chestnut, more power to you. All right, Coke or Pepsi? Oh, Coke for sure. Favorite chicken dipping sauce? You worked at Chick-fil-A, right?

Oh, it's got to be Chick-fil-A sauce. There's really nothing else. I mean, that was actually true. True. True. Kathy actually didn't come up with that recipe. It was actually given to him like the Ten Commandments were given to Moses. Unique talent nobody knows about.

I'm an excellent cook, and I struggle with gluttony, so I can make an incredible chicken and crusted Parmesan with lemon butter sauce that will blow your socks off. It sounds like there's probably not a whole lot of vegetables on that plate, so I would love to come have you cook a meal. I bet that would be good. Ideal time to go to bed?

2 a.m., number one reason is because I really require about five hours of sleep at night to be prime. And I always say that nobody owns your late, late nights or your early, early mornings. And so, you know, I work, you know, probably 12 hours, 15 hours a day. Then I spend the rest of time, you know, I got to work out for a couple hours and I got to spend time with my fiance and my dog and all maintain a social life. But then, you know, those two hours from midnight to 2 a.m.,

I really just get to do whatever I want, and that's something I really value. If I call you at 1 a.m., I won't feel guilty. That's good to know. All right. First celebrity crush. She's a flaming liberal, but it's got to be Emma Watson. All right. Cats or dogs? Oh, dogs. I've got a German shepherd trained attack dog named Beowulf. You can give him a scent, and he'll hunt that thing down. He's the best.

I got myself in trouble in my very first political campaign. I was getting near the finish line and everybody was saying, just don't do anything stupid. So sure enough, my local Fox affiliate comes and they give me 10 questions and they say cats or dogs and I say dogs. I said, you know, one of my favorite books though is this book. It's called 101 Uses for a Dead Cat. Oh my gosh, did I get lit up? Oh, the email, the hate and all that. So...

Don't ever do that if you're running for politics. Don't ever do that. But it is pretty funny. It is a pretty funny book. Anyway, all right, last one. Best advice you ever got? Best advice I ever got. You know what? I've got my wedding coming up.

And I was talking to a great congressman up here. He's an older guy, really giving me a lot of advice. And, you know, I'm sitting there and I'm saying, I'm saying, Hey, you know what? I'm trying to figure out where to go for my, my honeymoon because, you know, Australia and New Zealand are closed. I, I,

Hawaii is not very accessible. She's from Florida. So that doesn't work because it's just her hometown. You know, what should I do? You know, I've got, I've got these three options. And I said, do you think there'd be any political blowback from one of these? And this guy's older man, he put his hand on my shoulder and he said, well, son, are you going to have a lot of fun with your wife and make great memories? I was like, Oh yeah. Whichever one I choose, no doubt. And he said, well, son, you need to remember there's some things that are a lot more important than politics.

And that is something that I think will serve me very well in my future endeavors here in Washington. Amen to that. Listen, Madison Cawthorn, you've been very generous with your times. The congressman from North Carolina's 11th district, youngest member in the United States Congress and a great voice for the conservative movement.

You've been through a lot in your short time here on Earth, but I think you've inspired a lot of people. And I think your message is one, I hope, a whole lot of people, no matter their age, from coast to coast here, because it is inspirational. And we wish you nothing but the best. Well, Jason, thank you for inspiring me. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. And I look forward to seeing you on a news screen here soon. All right. All right. Madison Cawthorn, thank you very much.

So if that conversation and inspiration for Madison Cawthorn wasn't enough, I've got one little small bit of inspiration for you. And this time we're going to look to Arkansas. I read about this police officer. His name is L.C. Buckshot Smith.

He's worked in law enforcement for more than 56 years. He has his 92nd birthday coming up in May. And when he asked if he was going to retire, he says, when the good Lord says so. So I don't know. I look at where I might be when I'm 91 years old. But hats off and more power to this police officer in Arkansas, Mike.

L.C. Buckshot Smith from the small town of Camden, Arkansas, was a sheriff deputy for 46 years before retirement. But then, you know what? He retired for a few months and then he said, nope, I want back in. And so he's about to celebrate his 92nd birthday in May. Happy birthday, sir. Thank you for your service to Arkansas and to our nation and more power to you.

All right. Thank you for listening to the Jason in the House podcast. You can find more from the Fox News Podcast Network over at foxnewspodcast.com or wherever you listen to podcasts. We would appreciate it if you would rate it, like it, and give it some stars along the way because that's important to us. I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for listening all the way through. We'll be back with more next week. I'm Jason Chaffetz, and this has been Jason in the House.

Hi, everybody. It's Brian Kilmeade. I want you to join me weekdays at 9 a.m. East as we break down the biggest stories of the day with some of the biggest newsmakers and, of course, what you think. Listen live or get the podcast now at BrianKilmeadeShow.com.