“Our view: Cawthorn is deplorable.” That’s the headline in the Winston-Salem Journal echoing a line former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used in 2016 to accurately describe supporters of Donald Trump, one of whom is Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.).

When Russia began the invasion of Ukraine, Cawthorn and many other Republicans threw their support to Russia and Vladimir Putin against the United States and NATO, proving once and for all that Republicans are anti-American Russian stooges who hate democracy.

While some Republicans have been trying to back away from their support of Russia, Cawthorn has only doubled down. And that’s just part of the many things he has said and done since taking office that make him so deplorable that even his hometown newspaper is calling him out.

“Of all the many, many, many reasons we could find to legitimately criticize North Carolina’s gift to Crazytown,” Winston-Salem Journal editorial board began. “Rep. Madison Cawthorn — his stolen-valor lie about being accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy; the 160 women who claim to have witnessed his sexually predatorial behavior at the Virginia Christian college he briefly attended; his racist dog-whistles; his support for the Jan. 6 insurrectionists; his endorsement of political violence; the naked ambition that has led him to seek election in whichever district might provide him the most success; the blind eye he’s turned to his constituents; and what did that tree ever do to you? — it’s perhaps his latest exploit that has us truly seeing red.”

The newspaper even blasted Fox News for repeating Russian propaganda.

“Cawthorn’s comments might easily be written off as part of a misunderstood, nuanced evaluation of the situation if not for the degree of aid and comfort being offered Putin by other conservatives — including Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, who last week promoted Russian disinformation about U.S.-funded bioweapons labs in Ukraine,” the paper continued. “And if not for Sen. Marco Rubio slipping up earlier in the week by live-broadcasting information that could have compromised Zelenskyy’s safety. And if not for the repeated praise offered the Russian dictator by former President Trump. All of that leads to questions about what Rep. Liz Cheney calls the ‘Putin wing’ of the Republican Party.”

“The communities in our state’s 11th Congressional District have their share of problems, including the opioid crisis that has affected every other segment of society, underfunded educational resources and the challenge of drawing economic opportunities to help them thrive,” the board concluded. “They would do better to elect a representative who addresses those issues rather than one who repeats Russian talking points and distracts them with culture wars.”

Indeed, Republicans like Madison Cawthorn do not belong in public office. They have allied themselves with Russia and Putin against democracy and our Constitution. By all rights, they should be prosecuted for treason. At the very least, they should be voted out. Because they don’t care about representing the American people as much as they care about being Putin’s puppets.

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