25-year-old Madison Cawthorn stood up from his wheelchair during his Republican convention speech and compared himself to the founding fathers

Madison Cawthorn

Photo Courtesy of the Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Committee via Getty Images

• Maddison Cawthorn gave an emotional convention speech culminating in him standing for the Pledge of Allegiance at the RNC Wednesday night.
• Cawthorn is a 25-year-old Republican congressional nominee in North Carolina who could become the youngest member of Congress in US history.
• He's running in a historically safe GOP seat vacated by Mark Meadows when he became White House chief of staff.
• The North Carolinian compared himself to the founding fathers in his speech because of his age, and falsely claimed James Madison signed the Declaration of Independence.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Madison Cawthorn brought some youthful energy into the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night, with his speech culminating in him standing up from his wheelchair for the Pledge of Allegiance.

At 25, Cawthorn could become the youngest ever member of Congress if he wins his North Carolina race against Democrat Moe Davis. 

The seat, which was vacated by White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, has been reliably safe for Republicans, though recent polling shows it could be a close race this year.

Cawthorn was paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident when he was 18. 

—Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 27, 2020

 

In recalling the tragedy, Cawthorn lamented what he described as over zealous political correctness and a lack of patriotism among the Democrats, and stood from his chair to say the Pledge of Allegiance.

"You can kneel before God but stand for our flag," Cawthorn said.

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