Madison Cawthorn drew criticism last week for callingVolodymyr Zelenskyy a "thug ."- McCarthy said "Madison is wrong" and that "if there's any thug in this world, it's Putin."
House Minority Leader
"Madison is wrong," said McCarthy when asked about the remarks. "If there's any thug in this world, it's Putin."
McCarthy noted the recent Russian bombing of a maternity ward in Mariupol, as well as a Russian strike on a theatre in that same city that had "CHILDREN" written on the ground in large letters for planes overhead to see. President Joe Biden on Thursday called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "murderous dictator" and a "pure thug."
"This is the aggressor. This is the one who needs to end this war," added McCarthy.
But asked if he supported Cawthorn's re-election, McCarthy quickly responded "yes."
—CSPAN (@cspan) March 18, 2022
Last week, a video surfaced of the North Carolina Republican making the remarks against the Ukrainian president at an event with constituents in North Carolina.
"Remember that Zelenskyy is a thug," Cawthorn said. "Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and it is incredibly evil and it has been pushing woke ideologies."
—The Republican Accountability Project (@AccountableGOP) March 10, 2022
Insider later asked Republican senators for their response to Cawthorn's remarks, where they condemned Cawthorn as an outlier among the party.
But despite most Republicans supporting
Asked later in the press conference whether Cawthorn's remarks and Republican votes against anti-Russia bills may cloud the GOP's messaging on Ukraine, McCarthy responded with just one word.
"No," he said.