Republican Congressional candidate Madison Cawthorn, 24, running for North Carolina’s 11th District, says his recovery after a car crash that left him paralyzed from the waist down has given him “new eyes to see and new ears to hear.”
“I know something about adversity,” he said during his speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night.
Cawthorn shared that when he was 18 years old, he was in a car accident and was given a “one percent chance of survival [but] thanks to the power of prayer, a very loving community, and many skilled doctors, I made it.”
He also shared how he felt “invisible” after the accident. He said before the accident, he used to stand out in a crowd.
“I say to people who feel forgotten, ignored and invisible: I see you, I hear you,” Cawthorn said, adding, “In 2020 our country has a choice: we can give up on the American idea, or we can choose to work together to make our imperfect union more perfect.”
If elected, Cawthorn would be the youngest Congress member in America’s history.
“If you don’t think young people can change the world, then you just don’t know American history,” he said as he noted as he cited the examples of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
“George Washington was 21 when he received his first military commission. Abe Lincoln, 22 when he first ran for office.”
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Thank you Mr. President! Honored to stand for North Carolina and young patriots everywhere! https://t.co/7FbrEulOYd
— Madison Cawthorn (@CawthornforNC) August 27, 2020
Cawthorn called on viewers to “join us as we the party of freedom double-down on ensuring the American dream for all people.”
“Here we will have freedom of speech, not freedom from speech,” he added.
“Be a radical for freedom, be a radical for liberty and be a radical for our republic, for which I stand, one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all,” Cawthorn said as he concluded his speech and while he rose from his wheelchair.
