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Republican North Carolina Representative Madison Cawthorn has admitted to Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy that Cawthorn's previous claims of orgies and cocaine use amongst his Republican colleagues were "exaggerated."
McCarthy's comments come after a Wednesday morning meeting with the freshman congressman following remarks the week prior on a podcast about being invited to sexual get-togethers and witnessing drug use.
Additionally, following his Wednesday meeting with Cawthorn, McCarthy said, "You can't make statements like that as a member of Congress, it affects everybody else and the country as a whole." Politico's Olivia Beavers posted.
McCarthy also called out Cawthorn for saying things on the podcast that, he thinks, did not add up with reality. "It is just frustrating. There is no evidence behind his statements," McCarthy stated, Beavers wrote.
CNN's Capitol Hill reporter Melanie Zanona tweeted that McCarthy said Cawthorn has "lost his trust" and that "he needs to take steps to turn his life around, or else there could be consequences."
McCarthy also told reporters, Axios' Alayna Treene posted to Twitter, that he had "laid out everything that I find is unbecoming" to Cawthorn.
Reportedly, when McCarthy asked Cawthorn for names of specific individuals involved in the alleged orgies and drug use, Cawthorn said that "he thinks he saw maybe a staffer in a parking garage maybe 100 yards away..." according to Beavers.
As far as what McCarthy plans to do with Cawthorn following his admission that his claims were exaggerated, the Republican House Leader did not rule out further meetings with him, Beavers posted.
He said, "there very well could be" more conversations with the freshman from North Carolina as he decides "what actions are taken," Beavers wrote.
Initially, Cawthorn's comments had reportedly upset a number of his Republican colleagues, including the GOP senators from North Carolina.
Several of them reportedly voiced their displeasure about Cawthorn during a Tuesday meeting. One of them, Arkansas Republican Steve Womack, stated that he had received several questions from members of his constituency about Cawthorn's statements.
When CNN's Manu Raju asked GOP North Carolina Senator Richard Burr on Tuesday about Cawthorn's job performance, the senator, who will be retiring at the end of his current term said, "That's for his constituents to figure out but he's clearly been an embarrassment at times."
Wednesday morning, prior to McCarthy stating that Cawthorn's comments were exaggerated, Democratic New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she wasn't surprised by what Cawthorn said about House Republicans.
She pointed out that "one of their members is being investigated for sex trafficking a minor and they've been pretty OK w/ that. They issued more consequences to members who voted to impeach Trump," she wrote.
This comes after a video recently surfaced that showed Cawthorn calling Urkaine's President Volodymyr Zelensky a "thug," stating that the Ukrainian government is "corrupt" and "evil."
Also, earlier this month, Cawthorn accused Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of alcoholism, despite statements from the California Democrat saying that she does not drink.
Newsweek reached out to Cawthorn's and McCarthy's offices for comment.
Update: 03/30/22 4:41 p.m. ET: This article was updated with further information.
