Watch: RNC Speaker Paralyzed from Waist Down Literally Stands Up To Honor America
The 25-year-old Republican nominee for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District may use a wheelchair due to his partial paralysis, but it didn’t stop him from standing at the end his speech to the Republican National Convention.
Madison Cawthorn was paralyzed from the abdomen down in a 2014 car accident, according to Fox News.
In June, he defeated a Republican candidate backed by President Donald Trump in a primary runoff.
During his RNC speech, which aired Wednesday, Cawthorn argued that the “radical left” wants to “dismantle, defund and destroy,” while Trump wants to “rebuild, restore and renew.”
Madison Cawthorne was left paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident. Now @CawthornforNC is a 25-year-old running to represent North Carolinians in Congress. #RNC2020
— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) August 27, 2020
“I choose to fight for the future, to seize the high ground and retake the shining city on a hill. While the radical left wants to dismantle, defund and destroy, Republicans, under President Trump’s leadership, want to rebuild, restore and renew,” he said.
At the end of his address, Cawthorn, who was sitting in his wheelchair for most of the speech, stood to honor America.
“The American idea my ancestors fought for during the Revolutionary War is as exciting and revolutionary today as it was 250 years ago,” Cawthorn added.
“I say to Americans who love our country — young and old — be a radical for freedom. Be a radical for liberty.
“And be a radical for our republic,” he said as he rose from his wheelchair, “for which I stand, one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.
“Thank you, and may God bless America.”
The dramatic moment garnered quite the reaction on Twitter:
Wow… this moment was so inspiring.
Thank you, @CawthornforNC ??#RNC2020 pic.twitter.com/mpPd0ReLSU
— Jaren Grenell (@jarengrenell) August 27, 2020
We stand for this Country #MadisonCawthorn https://t.co/M4DHy49vCS
— Charlie Shamp (@CharlesShamp) August 27, 2020
Wow very impress with @CawthornforNC ??????
— Francine Esposito (@fespo12) August 27, 2020
Incredible. @MadisonCawthorn is the REAL deal. https://t.co/2kNPEgiq9n
— Lauren Hogan (@laurens_hogan) August 27, 2020
In recent days, Cawthorn has been accused of sexual misconduct by several women.
“There’s a big difference between a failed teenage romantic advance and being forceful, to the extent that’s possible when you’re a paraplegic,” John Hart, a public relations consultant employed by Cawthorn’s campaign, said in a statement, according to the Asheville, North Carolina-based Citizen Times.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
