Boyle column: Cawthorn's 'Chill the f*@# out' comment is mind-boggling

The exchange is sharp, tense and escalates quickly, culminating with one paralyzed man who relies on a wheelchair telling another paralyzed man who relies on a wheelchair to "chill the f*@# out."

Generally speaking, this would be ugly and inappropriate but not necessarily newsworthy, as people say all sorts of terrible things to one another these days.

But in this case, the conversation took place over Instagram between Republican Congressional candidate and Mills River resident Madison Cawthorn and Justin Richardson, who has worked professionally in disability advocacy for the past 15 years. Richardson, 40, has been paralyzed and in a wheelchair since 2003, when he broke his neck in a diving accident.

Cawthorn, 25, who is embroiled in a heated battle for the 11th Congressional District, which includes much of the mountains, is running against Democratic candidate Moe Davis, 62. In his campaign, Cawthorn has highlighted his own paralysis, caused by a car wreck when he was 18, stressing his ability to overcome adversity.

Richardson, who lives in the Raleigh area, stresses that his opinions are his own and not that of the mobility company or foundation that he works for. He said he reached out to Cawthorn Sept. 10 via Instagram to discuss Cawthorn's approach to his disability and offer some education.

After his speech at the Republican National Convention Aug. 26, Cawthorn stood, with the assistance of a walker, leg braces and two people securing the walker, saying he would stand for his country and the flag.

In the Instagram exchange, Richardson included at the bottom a link to an article by Kristen Parisi titled, "The Audacity of Madison Cawthorn," which had the subhead, "his grandstanding was not an inspiration — it was an insult to the disabled movement."

The exchange

Screenshots from Instagram show this exchange between Richardson and Cawthorn:

Richardson: The disability community and its allies would have so much more respect for you if you stopped the ableist stunts and shameless use of your own disability to score political points. You have an opportunity to represent our community (as a candidate or rep if you win) the right way and show our country that people with disabilities can be functional, happy, meaningful contributors to society. Posts like this turn both you and our community into objects for pity. You may be okay with that if it picks up a few votes in a tight race. The rest of us are not."

Cawthorn responds: "The disabled community is so diverse there is no way you can speak for everyone. I have zero idea how I am ableist whatever the hell that means. I am not disabled, I am just a person who lives in a wheelchair.

"Chill the f*@$ out with all your labels. It's so annoying. Everyone has some 'ism' or 'ist' after their name. It's insane and tiring to everyone."

Richardson: "I do not claim to speak for everyone but both my professional and personal lives keep me consistently intertwined with the entire community and people from all backgrounds and diagnosis groups.

"'Disability' is not a bad word and it is alarming that you would not consider yourself to be someone who is disabled. Also alarming? The fact that a Congressional candidate from a major political party would tell someone to 'chill the f*@$ out" when discussing an important issue."

Cawthorn: "Dude I don't know what to say to you man, I don't label myself or try to represent any subset of people, I am just a principled conservative who loves my country. Don't come at me saying the disabled community is against me. It's such a diverse group of people. Half love me the other half disagree with me. Not because of a damn wheelchair but rather because of my values. Sorry if my language offended you. I'm the same guy on Sunday as I am on Monday."

Richardson responds: "I'm not 'coming at you.' I'm attempting to educate you. If you have not read the article at the link below, you should. https://medium.com/@kristenann.parisi/the-audacity-of-madison-cawthornl-5e0aab01c986"

'Shocked' by Cawthorn's dismissive response

That article is well worth your time, by the way.

Richardson, who is a registered Democrat, says the exchange was the first and last he's had with Cawthorn.

“I was absolutely shocked he responded personally, and not only that he responded personally but he was so dismissive of what I feel is a very important campaign and social issue,” Richardson said. “And also dismissive of his own disability. It’s incredibly shocking to me he would consider himself someone who does not have a disability and then to frame it the way he did.”

Richardson said he's been working with and on behalf of people with disabilities for almost the entire time he's been injured, "and I’ve never experienced a candidate or a representative that’s ever spoken to me that way,” Richardson said.

“I’ll admit that what I said to him was direct, it was pointed, it was critical. But I don’t think it was worthy of the response I received," Richardson said.

A history of immaturity

I've written before about Cawthorn's immaturity, inappropriate behavior and use of symbols sometimes associated with white supremacy, citing a story written by AVLwatchdog. I noted some of this can be attributed to his youth.

In a nutshell, Cawthorn is a 25-year-old who's never held a job other than a fast food stint in high school, nearly flunked out after one semester in college and has little life experience. His previous issues show immaturity and problematic judgment, and this latest exchange just cements that assessment.

Why would you tell someone you don't know, who is reaching out with a notion you should at least consider, with "chill the f*@$ out?"

It just shows me, again, that this kid is not ready for prime time. 

Richardson stressed that he did not reach out simply to chastise Cawthorn.

"I think one of the reasons I became involved and felt the need to reach out is he has again and again made disability and overcoming disability such an important part of this campaign,” Richardson said. “I don’t like the way it’s been represented, and neither do a large number of people in our community."

“But for me, the most troubling part was the fact that he wants to make disability an issue or overcoming disability, but he doesn’t want to take the time or the effort to discuss disability and all the important aspects of disability in society and the fact that most everyone in their life will end up with a disability at some point in time,” Richardson said. “So him dismissing me was dismissing a large part of his constituency, and it’s incredibly troubling.”

We don't want to think about it, but most of us, if we live long enough, will have some kind of infirmity that limits our physical capabilities. 

Richardson said Cawthorn's response to him was "shocking" but not particularly surprising, as Cawthorn is "a 25-year-old with no work or real-life experience."

Davis no paragon, either

As we noted in this Sept. 15 article about Davis and his Twitter rants (also written by AVL Watchdog), it's clear the retired lawyer and Army colonel also has a salty tongue. He called Donald Trump the “dumbest (expletive) president in history” and suggested the way to treat Republican "extremists" when they go low is to "stomp their scrawny pasty necks with our heels and once you hear the sound of a crisp snap you grind your heel hard and twist it slowly side to side for good measure.”

That's not exactly presidential-level commentary, either. Well, wait a second — considering who our president is now, it actually is — but you get my point.

It's not unreasonable to expect civil, productive discourse from our representatives.  

But it's also worth noting that Richardson says the Davis campaign’s response "when presented with similar issues" was "an immediate, 'How can we help?'" 

Davis said after leaving the military but before starting his campaign, he was "a regular contributor on several cable news and radio outlets. To get noticed in that lane and to get air time, you have to be colorful and bombastic," Davis said.

He said his comments are like a football coach firing up his team — figurative, not literal. Davis did chastise Cawthorn for his exchange with Richardson and the use of the f-bomb.

"Mr. Cawthorn claims he's running to represent the people of Western North Carolina, and he says he wants to show that the Republican Party is a big tent," Davis said. "Using the f-word to respond to a question from someone you claim you want to represent is clearly inappropriate and reflects poorly on his fitness for office."

Cathorn's campaign spokesman, John Hart, sent me a statement Oct. 2 on Cawthorn's behalf.

"Unlike his opponent, Madison unequivocally apologies and takes responsibility when he chooses words that are inappropriate, as he did in this case," Hart said. "Madison is happy to debate issues of maturity, judgment and experience. When you look at the candidate’s history of public statements, it’s clear this is a race between a 25-year-old and a 13-year-old."

Hart referred to Davis' Twitter language as "gratuitously violent."

As far as the disability issue, Hart said Cawthorn is "passionately opposed to identity politics in all its forms whether it seeks to categorize people by race, gender, disability, etc.

"He understands there is a diversity of views in the disability community, and many other communities, and he rejects the notion we have to conform to a particular perspective," Hart said. "He isn't seeking to deliver a message as much as he wants to be an example of how a person can endure a tremendous tragedy and loss and find renewed meaning and purpose." 

A 'juvenile response'

I talked this over with Western Carolina University political scientist Chris Cooper, who said it's difficult to discern whose antics are more offensive, as Davis' comments evoked violence, which is probably worse than Cawthorn's dismissive, inappropriate language.

Cawthorn's comments bring up identity politics, Cooper said, and it shows "Cawthorn is disabled but may not identify as disabled." But...

"It strikes me as a juvenile response," Cooper said. "It sounds like something that would have been a line in 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off,' not something from a congressional candidate."

As that movie came out in 1986, I'm pretty sure Cawthorn will have to Google it.

Cooper said it's also striking that Cawthorn continues to make mistakes on social media, especially considering he's four decades younger than Davis. Again, that's a matter of maturity and judgment.

Also, it's kind of mind-boggling that both candidates' staffers aren't insulating them from these kinds of mistakes, Cooper said.

Richardson says he's not looking for sympathy in publicizing Cawthorn's response to him (the Citizen Times ran a letter to the editor from Richardson last week). He wants to educate Cawthorn so he doesn't continue to anger the disabled community with stunts like the one at the convention.

"I say this very carefully: having a disability does not make you exceptional,” Richardson said, paraphrasing a quote by Australian disability advocate Stella Young, who noted that what does make you exceptional is challenging the way you think about disability.

“One thing to be very clear about, I have my own political leanings, but I think it’s very important that we have people on both sides of the aisle with disabilities represented in Congress,” Richardson said. “I just feel very strongly that he’s not the one that should be, as far as on the Republican side or the Democratic side. I think he’s inherently unqualified.”

But he would still like to talk with Cawthorn about the issue of disability, because he knows that win, lose or draw, Cawthorn will remain on the political scene, as he's been christened a rising Republican star.

And even rising stars should be open to learning.

This is the opinion of John Boyle. Contact him at 828-232-5847 or jboyle@citizentimes.com