This is a call to action for our community members living in North Carolina's 11th Congressional District:

In response to Madison Cawthorn’s role in the rally leading up to the infamous Capitol Attack on January 6th, CJJ member David Hurand co-authored an op-ed in the Asheville Citizen-Times last week, calling for Cawthorn’s immediate resignation. 

[A]s Jews, we are taught to see the image of God in all people (B’tzelem Elohim), and we stand in solidarity with all who are threatened by the violent politics of fear and division that Madison Cawthorn has come to represent. He is not a representative of all of the people, and he must resign.

Now, after months of attempted engagement, Cawthorn is suddenly interested in meeting with the Jewish community. The catch, however, is that only seven people are invited, and the timing is terrible: 8:30 a.m. this Monday at his Hendersonville office.

But if Cawthorn genuinely wants to hear from his Jewish constituents, let’s take him at his word! Starting at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, February 8, please join us in calling his district office to share your concerns.

Call: 828-435-7310*

*If you have trouble getting through, you can also contact Cawthorn's Washington, DC, office at 202-225-6401, or email him here.

Suggested script:

Hello, my name is [Name], and I live in [City or Town]. As a constituent and as a member of the Jewish community, I’m calling to express my concern about Rep. Cawthorn’s role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. I know the representative is currently having a small, last minute meeting with just a few Jewish leaders from WNC. He can show our whole community he cares about us by taking accountability for his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol and resigning his seat.

Once you have completed your call, let us know how it went by filling out this form.

Other Talking Points & Background Information

Cawthorn’s Feb. 8 Meeting with Selected Members of the WNC Jewish Community

• Cawthorn has taken smiling selfies at Hitler’s vacation retreat; has, in words reminiscent of Nazi racial theory, talked of Jewish blood running in people’s veins; and has boasted of “converting” Jews to Christianity.
• Even the Feb. 8 meeting continues to show disrespect for the Jewish community. For months he ignored requests for conversation, only to suddenly announce to the press a meeting “with the Jewish community” when politically convenient -- without first alerting the people who were eventually invited to the meeting.
• The meeting was scheduled in-person, despite the ongoing risks of COVID, and not conveniently, at 8:30 a.m. on a Monday morning in his Hendersonville district office.
• Only a few members of the WNC Jewish community were invited to the meeting; by curating the invitation list and holding the meeting in person, Cawthorn has preemptively cut off many voices within the diverse WNC Jewish community.
• Part of the Jewish community of WNC now has an opportunity to share its concerns with Cawthorn, but antisemitism is only one of the many troubling aspects of Cawthorn’s actions and words. The collusion of antisemitism, white supremacy, racism, and xenophobia is what fuels the machinery of White Nationalism. As far as we know, Cawthorn has not reached out to representatives of other communities he has denigrated and marginalized. 

Cawthorn’s Role in the Jan. 6 Violent Attack on the Capitol

• In a speech in December, Cawthorn promoted the unfounded claim of widespread voter fraud. He told a pro-Trump group to "lightly threaten" their members of Congress and tell them "everybody is coming after you."
• Leading up to January 6, Cawthorn encouraged attendance at the “Stop the Steal” rally with a steady stream of content including videos and tweets and continued to lie about the integrity of the election.
• At the January 6 rally, Cawthorn roused attendees to loud cheers when he shouted “this crowd has some fight in it” and posted a series of celebratory tweets calling the event “patriotic” and further trafficking in conspiracy theories. At the rally he could clearly see before him the cheering throng openly displaying white supremacist symbols, swastikas, and confederate flags.
• After the attack on the Capitol, Cawthorn still refused to vote to certify the election results, and he has in the media continued to raise doubts about the integrity of the election (though not, of course, with the votes that secured him his seat).