Rep. Madison Cawthorn says pictures of him in lingerie are 'goofy vacation photos' taken during a cruise game

• Politico reported on photos of conservative Rep. Madison Cawthorn wearing lingerie.
• The 26-year-old North Carolina politician responded about an hour later.

Conservative North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn said Friday that pictures of him in lingerie published by Politico were part of a game on a cruise ship played before he took office.

"I guess the left thinks goofy vacation photos during a game on a cruise (taken waaay before I ran for Congress) is going to somehow hurt me?" Cawthorn tweeted approximately an hour after Politico published the exclusive story.

"They're running out of things to throw at me," he added, encouraging Twitter users to also post their embarrassing vacation photos underneath his tweet.

—Madison Cawthorn (@CawthornforNC) April 22, 2022

The 26-year-old Republican linked a Cruise Critic article that shows the same "Quest" logo in the background and describes a "bawdy" adult scavenger-hunt game played on Royal Caribbean cruises that often led to "barely controlled chaos."

The article detailed a similar situation during a game in which a man ended up wearing a bra.

Insider could not confirm the circumstances of the photo.

Cawthorn's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Politico reported that two individuals "formerly close to" Cawthorn's campaign shared and confirmed the images. The report added that Cawthorn is seeking re-election against seven other Republican rivals and is in the midst of several other controversies — including calling Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "thug," facing several driving tickets, and suggesting that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who does not drink, has a drinking problem.

Cawthorn also claims that he was invited to an orgy in DC and commented on "the sexual perversion that goes on in Washington," CNN reported in March.

"Cawthorn, 26, was raised in a conservative Baptist community in Henderson County, North Carolina, and has staked his political persona on arch-traditional Christian principles and the insistence of the importance of a kind of hypermasculinity," Politico reported.

In early April, the conservative politician claimed that Democrats are waging a "war on biology" by supporting the rights of the transgender community.

—CSPAN (@cspan) April 4, 2022

When asked by a reporter in 2020 about where his politics stand in relation to the LGBTQ community, Cawthorn described himself as "traditional," but didn't believe the government should be able to dictate who marries who.

He also added that he doesn't believe transgender youth should be able to receive gender-affirming surgery.