Inside how Madison Cawthorn was left disabled and accused of lying about crash as rep is slammed over orgy comments

NORTH Carolina Representative Madison Cawthorn is no stranger to controversy when he speaks his mind. 

The now-26-year-old became one of the youngest people ever elected to serve in the US Congress in 2020 at the age of 25.

APMadison Cawthorn, 26, has been accused of lying about the circumstances of his 2014 car accident[/caption]

APCawthorn became partially paralyzed at age 18 after the SUV he was a passenger in crashed into a concrete barrier[/caption]

Cawthorn notably travels everywhere via a wheelchair due to a 2014 car crash that left him partially paralyzed from the waist down. Cawthorn was 18 at the time.

The incident hasn’t stopped him from working towards his political career and he has claimed that the wheelchair itself became a source of inspiration to him.

“At 20, I thought about giving up. However, I knew I could still make a difference.

“My accident gave me new eyes to see, and new ears to hear,” he said during a speech at the Republican National Convention.”

ACCUSED OF LYING

However, Cawthorn was later accused of lying about the circumstances of the crash, claiming that he was “left to die” in the horror smash.

Cawthorn made the claim in 2017, saying that his friend Bradley Ledford had left him “to die in a fiery tomb.”

Ledford was driving a BMW X3 SUV in Daytona Beach, Florida with Cawthorn as his passenger. Ledford had reportedly fallen asleep behind the wheel, crashing the vehicle into a concrete barrier while Cawthorn’s feet were on the dashboard.

In 2021, Ledford publicly stated that he pulled Cawthorn from the wreck once he escaped the car.

In their depositions, Cawthorn stated that he had “no memory from the accident,” while Ledford said that he had helped rescue an unconscious Cawthorn.

In an interview with People, Ledford expanded on what happened immediately after the crash – and how he and Cawthorn have repaired their bond.

“Him and I have been through so much together,” Ledford told the outlet.

Cawthorn suffered “incapacitating” and “life-threatening” injuries, as the vehicle erupted into flames almost immediately after impact.

Ledford said he quickly “recognized that Maddy [Cawthorn] was unconscious and [I] was realizing that the situation was getting worse and worse.”

Ledford explained how he moved toward Cawthorn and felt an intense heat on his right arm, then realized flames were engulfing the back half of the SUV.

He tried to open the driver-side door to escape, but it was jammed. He tried to kick out the windshield, but it wouldn’t budge.

Instead, Ledford said, he reached over Cawthorn and punched out the passenger window.

He climbed out, landed on the concrete and immediately turned around to unbuckle Cawthorn, with whom he pleaded to wake up, he says.

“While I was pulling him out of the window, a bystander came by and helped me carry him away from the car,” Ledford said.

“I remember his leg was pretty badly cut from the accident and we were sitting on the side of the interstate,” Ledford recalled.

“So I took my shirt off and wrapped it around his leg and then just kind of stayed with him until the paramedics got there.”

On election night in November 2020, Cawthorn gathered his family and friends in anticipation of a victory, and joining him was Ledford.

“This is the guy who saved my life,” Cawthorn said of Ledford.

ORGY COMMENTS

Just recently, Cawthorn has received heat after suggesting that some of his colleagues had invited him to orgies and used cocaine in front of him.

During a closed-door conference meeting on Tuesday, Cawthorn had made the comments, according to reports. As a result, multiple Republicans in the room said lawmakers expressed anger at Cawthorn’s words.

Arkansas Rep Steve Womack stood up and argued that it was inappropriate for Cawthorn to paint lawmakers with such a broad brush, saying that many of them go to bed at 9m and still use fax machines and flip phones, reported Politico.

Cawthorn made the comments about “sexual perversion” in Washington in response to a podcast interviewer’s question about if the show House of Cards was unrealistic or if as some truth about the DC political scene.

Cawthorn suggested that the latter was more accurate.

He said that he’s received invitations along the lines of: “‘Well, hey, we’re going to have kind of a sexual get-together at one of our homes, you should come’.”

While on the Warrior Poet Society podcast, Cawthorn recited his response: “I’m like, ‘What did you just ask me to come to?’ And then you realize they are asking you to come to an orgy.”

He also claimed to have seen other people using cocaine in front of him, particularly those who are “leading” efforts to eradicate drug addiction.

SPLIT FROM WIFE

In December Cawthorn announced he was divorcing his wife of less than a year, Cristina Bayardelle, and blamed his role in Congress for the split.

He said in a statement that “overnight their lives changed” following his election win.

He added: “When my wife Cristina and I were engaged, I was not a member of Congress.

“I felt called to serve and we both agreed that I should run. Our victory was unprecedented.

“But overnight, our lives changed.

“That change has been both hectic and difficult. It’s neither the pace nor the lifestyle we had planned for.”

He cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their split and added: “While it was an enormously difficult decision, Cristina and I have mutually decided to divorce.

“We ask for privacy as we work through this privately.”

AlamyRecently, Cawthorn has come under fire for making statements that his fellow colleagues had allegedly invited him to orgies and used drugs in front of him[/caption]

Instagram / cristina_bae4Cawthorn was married to Cristina Bayardelle for less than a year before separating[/caption]