• Madison Cawthorn drew criticism last week for calling Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "thug."
  • McCarthy said "Madison is wrong" and that "if there's any thug in this world, it's Putin."
  • Cawthorn also faced criticism from GOP senators for the remarks last week.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy criticized fellow Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina after the first-term congressman called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "thug" and said the Ukrainian government is "incredibly evil."

"Madison is wrong," said McCarthy when asked about the remarks. "If there's any thug in this world, it's Putin."

McCarthy noted the recent Russian bombing of a maternity ward in Mariupol, as well as a Russian strike on a theatre in that same city that had "CHILDREN" written on the ground in large letters for planes overhead to see. President Joe Biden on Thursday called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "murderous dictator" and a "pure thug."

"This is the aggressor. This is the one who needs to end this war," added McCarthy.

But asked if he supported Cawthorn's re-election, McCarthy quickly responded "yes."

 

Last week, a video surfaced of the North Carolina Republican making the remarks against the Ukrainian president at an event with constituents in North Carolina.

"Remember that Zelenskyy is a thug," Cawthorn said. "Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and it is incredibly evil and it has been pushing woke ideologies."

 

Insider later asked Republican senators for their response to Cawthorn's remarks, where they condemned Cawthorn as an outlier among the party.

But despite most Republicans supporting Ukraine and taking a hard stance against Russia, some in the party have taken a different approach. 15 House Republicans voted against a bill to ban the importation of Russian oil last week, and 8 Republicans voted against a bill to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus.

Asked later in the press conference whether Cawthorn's remarks and Republican votes against anti-Russia bills may cloud the GOP's messaging on Ukraine, McCarthy responded with just one word.

"No," he said.

Read the original article on Business Insider