Madison Cawthorn spokesman freaks out on CNN fact checker who highlighted his unhinged 'bloodshed' remarks

On Monday, CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale flagged a speech Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) gave to a group of Republicans in Macon County, North Carolina in an event on Sunday, in which he not only continued to push former President Donald Trump's "big lie" that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, but suggested conservatives may need to resort to violence to prevent such elections from happening again.

"If our election systems continue to be rigged, continue to be stolen, then it's gonna lead to one place and that's bloodshed," said Cawthorn. "There's nothing I would dread doing more than having to pick up arms against a fellow American. And the way that we can have recourse against that is if we all passionately demand that we have election security in all 50 states."

In response to Dale's fact-check, a spokesperson for Madison Cawthorn quickly tried to walk back the congressman's suggestion of civil war: "Cawthorn is CLEARLY advocating for violence not to occur over election integrity questions. He fears others would erroneously choose that route and strongly states that election integrity issues should be resolved peacefully and never through violence."

Cawthorn also provoked controversy at the Macon County event by suggesting the jailed participants in the January 6 Capitol attack are "political hostages" — and that he is "actively working" on a plan to bring Trump supporters back to the Capitol.