Two Of The GOP’s Poster Boys Of Early Days Trump Chaos

Can you think of any figures who better capture the cartoonish corruption and incompetence of the early Trump era than Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) and George Santos (R-NY)? Both were billed as the “next generation” of Republican leadership— weirdly telegenic, hard-right culture warriors with a talent for going viral. Instead, they became walking, talking cautionary tales— two sides of the same MAGA coin: scandal, shamelessness and zero interest in actual governance.

Today, one is angling for a political comeback in Florida, the other is six weeks into a seven-year prison sentence. And the fact that either is still getting headlines says everything about the broken culture of the Republican Party.

Cawthorn was supposed to be the future of the GOP: young, ambitious, and fanatically devoted to Trump. Instead, his single term in Congress turned into a riveting clown show.

He accused his GOP colleagues of inviting him to cocaine-fueled orgies, claimed he was a victim of a “DC cartel,” and tried several times to carry a loaded guns through airport security. His term ended in disgrace after a primary loss despite Trump’s endorsement. 

Now, Cawthorn wants back in. According to Axios, the scandal-plagued former congressman is preparing to run for Florida’s 19th congressional district, an open seat created by Byron Donalds’ gubernatorial ambitions. He’s already been making the rounds on Capitol Hill, though notably skipping a meeting with MAGA Mike— probably because Johnson already has his hands full trying to herd his MAGA cats. 

Donalds, who Cawthorn approached for support, offered a diplomatic shrug: “He was 25 years old when he came to Congress. Everybody has an opportunity to grow and mature.” Sure. And maybe Rudy Giuliani will sober up and start practicing law again.

If elected, Cawthorn would almost certainly create fresh chaos for a GOP House already teetering on dysfunction. This is a guy who turned on his own leadership in his first term and loved every second of the spotlight. And here he is, chasing it again. Growth and maturity? Don’t bet on it.

And then there’s Santos— the human résumé padding machine turned federal inmate. Expelled from Congress in 2023 after less than a year in office, Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft and is now serving 87 months in New Jersey’s FCI Fairton.

Naturally, he’s making prison life all about him. In a column for the South Shore Press, Santos complained about black mold, broken air conditioning, and a “childish” administrator who joked that inmates would gripe even if the place had “marble floors and a jacuzzi.”

“Personally, I find marble to be cheap, gaudy, and tacky,” Santos sniffed— because even behind bars, he can’t resist a critique of bad décor. He ended his farewell to freedom with a flourish: “Well darlings… the curtain falls, the spotlight dims, and the rhinestones are packed.” Only Santos could treat a federal prison sentence like the closing night of a drag revue. And now, six weeks into his “personal hell,” he’s promising regular dispatches from behind bars— because, of course, the show must go on.

Republicans love to brand themselves as the party of faith and family values. They scream about “decency” and “traditional morality.” But look at their poster boys:

• One bragged about being invited to orgies and faked a marriage to a female trainer while bonking his male cousin.

• The other lied about everything from his career to his heritage and ended up convicted of federal fraud.

This is the same party that will demonize a single mom on food stamps, but they’ll elevate men like this to Congress without blinking. If hypocrisy were a crime, the GOP leadership would need its own wing at FCI Fairton.

You know the Cawthorn and Santos stories already. These two ne’er-do-wells aren’t outliers; they’re the inevitable byproduct of Trump’s GOP. A party that rewards shamelessness, spectacle and scandal over competence and integrity will keep producing and evaluating these chaos merchants.

One man dreams of returning to Congress. The other dreams of air conditioning. And both are reminders that when a political movement elevates go-for-glory-influencers instead of leaders, what you get isn’t governance. It’s grift in a red tie. As Kate Santaliz informed her readers this week, “Cawthorn, who once said the House Republican conference is full of degenerates, appears eager to rejoin his old colleagues.”