CHARLOTTE, N.C. — U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “thug,” according to video posted by Raleigh station WRAL-TV.
The comment was first reported in an opinion article by Karl Rove that was published in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Rove, who was a senior adviser to former President George W. Bush, said Cawthorn made the comments Saturday at a town hall in Asheville. A video clip of the remarks was published by WRAL on Thursday morning. The News & Observer has not yet obtained a copy of the video.
“Remember that Zelenskyy is a thug. Remember the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and it is incredibly evil and it has been pushing woke ideologies,” Cawthorn, a North Carolina Republican, says in the brief clip.
