'Juvenile behavior and untruthfulness': NC GOP senator buries Madison Cawthorn while backing his primary rival

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) criticized a fellow North Carolina Republican on Thursday and endorsed his primary opponent.

As reported by Politico's Burgess Everett, Tillis on Thursday endorsed Republican Chuck Edwards, who is running to unseat incumbent Rep. Madison Cawthorn.

As part of his endorsement, Tillis took multiple shots at Cawthorn, who earlier this week drew a rebuke from GOP leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) after he accused fellow Republicans of regularly attending drug-fueled orgies.

Specifically, Tillis said that Edwards, unlike Cawthorn, would "never attack Ukraine’s fight for freedom or vote against sanctioning Putin’s Russia and find himself being used as propaganda on Russian state television."

This is a reference to Cawthorn calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "thug" while suggesting Ukraine was not worth fighting over because it was a "corrupt" country.

Tillis also said Edwards "has demonstrated he serves with honor and integrity, and he always makes conservatives proud. He’ll never embarrass Western North Carolina with a consistent pattern of juvenile behavior, outlandish statements, and untruthfulness."

Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), North Carolina's other Republican senator, said earlier in the week that he will not get involved in Cawthorn's primary fight, but did not hesitate to trash the Trump-loving freshman Republican.

"On any given day, he's an embarrassment," said Burr.

NOW WATCH: Chuck Todd corners GOP senator on Trump still 'playing footsie' with 'war criminal' Putin