NC Republican Nominee for Congress Posed for Photos at Hitler's Vacation Home

Shortly after winning his primary, Madison Cawthorn, the Republican nominee for U.S. House District 11 in North Carolina, was exposed for having expressed views sympathetic or referential to Nazism on multiple occasions.

Moe Davis, Cawthorn’s Democratic opponent, first raised the issue on August 10, 2020. Investigations by journalists later uncovered more from Cawthorn: The candidate’s real estate holding business is named SPQR Holdings, LLC. SPQR, is thought to stand for Senatus Populusque Romanus, a phrase used to reference the Roman state in Republican and Imperial times. The phrase, and the SPQR flag, have been used by hate groups, including white supremacist and Klansman Don Black. Nazis and white supremacists also carried the SPQR flag as they marched in Charlottesville for “Unite the Right.”

Cawthorn also followed exactly 88 accounts on Twitter. The number 88 is a common Nazi symbol; H is the eighth letter of the alphabet, therefore 88 = HH, which translates to “Heil Hitler.” (A few weeks after this was pointed out, Cawhorn increased his follow count to a more innocuous number).

In since-deleted Instagram posts, Cawthorn posed for pictures in front of the Eagle’s Nest in Berchtesgaden, Germany, Hitler’s notorious vacation home. Cawthorn wrote in his caption that the vacation spot of “the “Fuhrer” ”did not disappoint.” In campaign videos, he posed in front of the Betsy Ross flag, which has also been appropriated by white nationalist groups. 

Following the criticism and his deletion of the posts, Cawthorn responded with a series of tweets, writing “When our soldiers were photographed at the Eagle’s Nest in 1945 they were clearly celebrating the Allies [sic] triumph over one of the greatest evils in human history….They weren’t celebrating evil; they were celebrating their victory over evil…I don’t cower to the mob…The new Republican Party that I represent will fight back against liberal lies.”

Cawthorn ran his primary campaign distinguishing himself from the Trump Republican Party, opposing a Trump-endorsed candidate. Following his primary win however, Cawthorn pivoted further right, opposing reparations, and aligning himself with the white nationalist and populist wing of the party.