GOP lawmakers mocked Rep. Cawthorn behind his back at an event over his claims about Washington DC orgies, report says

• GOP lawmakers mocked Cawthorn for claiming Congresspeople have drug-fueled orgies, Politico said.
• Cawhtorn's outlandish claim, for which he gave no evidence, prompted a backlash.

GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn was the subject of secret mockery by colleagues at a Republican fundraiser for his wild claims about sexual perversity and orgies among the Washington DC elite, Politico reported.

The outlet reported that when Cawthorn on Wednesday night showed up at a fundraiser for Harriet Hageman, who is challenging Rep. Liz Cheney for her congressional seat, his "own GOP colleagues spent some of the fundraiser, feet away, quietly joking at his expense, according to people in the room."

The 26-year-old North Carolina Rep. is no stranger to stirring controversy, as a hardline supporter of Donald Trump and member of the far-right faction of the House GOP.

But Cawthorn has faced not just mockery, but repudiation from party leadership over a claim he made on a podcast, "Warrior Poet Society," last week.

On the show he alleged that members of Congress use cocaine and attend orgies. He gave no evidence for the claim.

In the interview, Cawthorn was asked whether Congress resembled its portrayal in lurid drama series "House of Cards." He replied that before entering Congress he had looked up to lawmakers.

"Then all of the sudden you get invited to, 'Well, hey, we're going to have kind of a sexual get together at one of our homes, you should come.'

"I'm like, 'What did you just ask me to come to?' And then you realise they are asking you to come to an orgy."

Cawthorn also claimed: "You know, some of the people that are leading on the movement to try and remove addiction in our country and then you watch them do, you know, a key bump of cocaine right in front of you and it's like, 'Wow, this is wild.'"

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy summoned Cawthorn to a meeting Wednesday, and afterwards told reporters that Cawthorn's comments were "unacceptable."

"I just told him he's lost my trust, he's gonna have to earn it back, and I laid out everything I find is unbecoming. And you can't just say, 'You can't do this again.' I mean, he's got a lot of members very upset."

McCarthy did not say whether or not Cawthorn would be officially censured over the claims.

Cawthorn has not commented on the controversy, and did not immediately respond to a question from Insider over whether he stands by his orgy remarks.