North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn isn’t a doctor, or a scientist, or even a college graduate, but by golly, he’s a straight white Republican man with opinions, and that’s all he really needs to feel qualified to lecture his colleagues — and the public at large — about something he knows absolutely nothing about.
Speaking ... well, more shouting really, during Congress’s “general speeches” time on Monday, Cawthorn used his five minutes to join the GOP’s lockstep assault on the transgender community, as well as to distract from his recent, erm, imbroglio amongst his party’s (alleged!!!!) sex and drugs fans. And, like most things Cawthorn, his attempt to make a terrible, bigoted, inaccurate point was largely overshadowed by the fact that he is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a good, or even competent orator. Instead, this is a guy who yells about Burger King and “tallywackers” because of freedom, or something? Honestly, I’m not sure. Here, see for yourself:
Presumably, Cawthorn is lecturing the speaker of the House of Representatives about what makes someone a “woman” in light of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s extremely legitimate, if perhaps inartfully delivered, remark that — in the context of her role in the judicial system — she is not qualified to judge what makes a woman. And to Cawthorn’s credit, “Science is not Burger King” is an impressive turn of phrase, if only for being the sort of ridiculous, bumper-sticker sentiment that rolls nicely off the tongue doesn’t actually mean anything, which is pretty much the GOP’s sweet spot these days.
Contrary to Cawthorn’s claim, however, there’s a LOT of actual science that goes into a Burger King meal, whereas the congressman’s primary connection to Burger King is how much he loves whoppers. And as for his claim about “tallywackers,” well ... someone’s novelty “word a day” toilet paper seems to be paying off, I guess.
