Republican Drops Reelection Bid After Being Outed As Creep. No, Not That One, The Other One.
Goodbye, Chuck Edwards!
Is North Carolina’s 11th District cursed, or are Republican men predisposed to being giant creeps? Maybe both?
Three years ago, the district was represented by Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn, who was accused of sexual assault and harassment by over 20 women. Cawthorn lost his reelection bid to Chuck Edwards, who, at the time, was the owner of several McDonalds franchises, which he sold in 2026 in order to focus more on his legislative activities.
Unfortunately, said legislative activities seem to have heavily involved the sexual harassment of two of the young women who worked in his office.
On Tuesday, the House Ethics Committee recommended the House censure Edwards, finding “substantial reason to believe” that he “violated House rules related to sexual harassment and hostile workplaces” by engaging in “persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers.”
Via The New York Times:
The report, which did not name the women, found that they both received numerous gifts from Mr. Edwards, including jewelry totaling more than $1,000 in value, designer purses, [pink and blue] guns, shoes, flowers, a laptop and a cellphone, a KitchenAid mixer, a robotic vacuum, vacations, tickets to performances and one-on-one dinners. […]
The report described how Mr. Edwards would make flattering comments about the appearance of the two female staffers, calling them “pretty” or “breathtaking.” Axios also reported that Mr. Edwards wrote a handwritten note to one of the women after she resigned, saying that she had “written a complex chapter in my heart.”
The report found that Mr. Edwards also wrote her poems, did yardwork at her house, paid for her massages at a spa and skipped votes in the House so that he could help decorate her Christmas tree. When she told Mr. Edwards that she had received another job offer, he replied in a text: “I don’t cry often, but I have today. It caught me off guard.” The woman did not respond to a request for comment.
Well, that is all deeply fucking weird. Why are these terrible men always writing poems? Don’t they know how weird and repulsive that is? I mean, fine, if you’re an actual, published, poet who is really, really good at writing poetry and the person you are writing a poem for is so super into you that it wouldn’t be weird and horribly awkward, go ahead and write them a poem. I guess. But if you are a Republican congressman from North Carolina? Absolutely do not write anyone any poetry, ever. As a rule. In fact, most people, in general, once they are out of high school, should not write poetry. I will stand by that!
In another incident, Edwards took one of the women to the December 2024 White House Christmas party without telling her that it’s usually the kind of thing people bring their spouses or significant others to, which I imagine had to be pretty awkward — particularly given that Edwards is actually married. The attorney representing that same woman said that Edwards also sent her emails that made her “uncomfortable and felt that she was being groomed by him to be a romantic partner.” Emails which we are going to hope were at least not written in iambic pentameter.
Of course, the signs that Chuck Edwards was a giant weirdo were always there, starting with the fact that he goes by “Chuck” in the first place. I’m sorry, but the last time I met a guy named “Chuck,” he was wearing sandals and trying a little too hard to entice me to join his polycule, and I feel relatively certain that he was a fair representation of the species. Norris? Republican. Schumer? Has imaginary friends. Berry? Excellent musician. Also, punched a woman, installed perv cameras in the women’s bathroom at his restaurant, and went to prison for two years for transporting a 14-year-old girl across state lines “for immoral purposes.” Chuck D seems like a good dude, but there are exceptions to every rule (which I am sure also applies to any Chucks reading this, unless you are wearing sandals).
This Chuck also once gave Donald Trump a “French Fries Certification” pin, which is not even a real thing that McDonalds gives out to people who actually serve french fries, when he was visiting a North Carolina town that had been recently devastated by Hurricane Helene. That’s weird. That’s the move of the exact kind of guy who is going to write terrible poetry to and buy pastel handguns for women who are not his wife.
Want to send us money in an entirely different way? Click here or join our Patreon!
While Edwards has denied he actually did anything wrong, he announced Wednesday that he would discontinue his reelection campaign, something that some other Republican men currently embroiled in scandals might want to consider (except maybe not, since it does make it easier to take their seats).
“After much prayer and reflection,” he wrote on social media at 3:32 in the morning on Wednesday, “I’ve decided to withdraw from my re-election campaign. I will complete my current term. Serving Western North Carolina has been the honor of my life. Thank you for your trust, prayers, and support.”
Pssht. The only thing I’m praying for is that we all someday get to read his terrible, terrible poetry, and also that this upset results in Democrat Jamie Ager winning his seat in Congress.
PREVIOUSLY ON WONKETTE!
Overhead at the MAGA Store:
'I'd like to see a Sebastian Gorka model asshole but in beige."
"Would you like the standard patrician accent or something a little less creepy?"
"I'll go with the folksy 'good ol' boy' accent."
"Coming right up, Sir!"
“ $1,000 in value, designer purses, [pink and blue] guns, shoes, flowers, a laptop and a cellphone, a KitchenAid mixer, a robotic vacuum, vacations, tickets to performances and one-on-one dinners. […”
Is he raiding the price is right for his creeper gifts??
“I’ll let you keep this glamorous kitchen aid mixer if you can guess the price without going over and let me have a sniff. “
“I’m 23 and live in an apartment. I’ve never used a mixer”