Cawthorn, a Republican, represented North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District between 2021 and 2023, and lost in the 2022 primaries to Representative Chuck Edwards, a former North Carolina state senator.
In August, however, roughly five months before Edwards would be sworn into office, Cawthorn reportedly purchased a $1.1 million home in Cape Coral, Florida, according to a November report from the Asheville Citizen-Times.
At the time, Cawthorn did not publicly confirm if he was moving.
In an Instagram post on Friday, the former congressman acknowledged his relocation, writing, “There are many reasons I moved to Florida.”
“One of the big contributing factors is that I know Byron Donalds is a leader in this state,” continued Cawthorn’s caption. “That means this state will always be on offense to safeguard our future. Byron for Speaker.”
Cawthorn posted the message along with a screenshot of an earlier tweet in which he endorsed Florida Representative Byron Donalds for speaker of the House. Donalds was one of several alternative speaker nominations proposed by conservative lawmakers last week in an effort to avoid electing the current speaker, Kevin McCarthy.
Cawthorn generated ample controversy leading up to his primary race against Edwards, including being accused of speeding and driving with a revoked license, being caught twice with a gun at airport security, and facing insider-trading allegations involving the cryptocurrency “Let’s Go Brandon.”
Trump repeatedly endorsed Cawthorn until the primaries, however, and encouraged voters to give the Republican a “second chance” in Congress, despite what Trump said were “foolish mistakes.”
Cawthorn also faced a lawsuit prior to the primary election that challenged if his candidacy was legal. According to a report from the Charlotte, North Carolina-based Queen City News outlet, Cawthorn was involved with the Stop the Steal protest that occurred just before supporters of Trump breached the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
A U.S. district judge ruled in March that Cawthorn’s ballot eligibility for the then-upcoming primary was shielded from being evaluated by the North Carolina State Board of Elections, reported Queen City News. However, in December, the law firm that represented Cawthorn during his trial filed their own complaint that the former congressman failed to pay over $193,000 in legal fees.
Cawthorn has also repeatedly echoed Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Newsweek reached out to Cawthorn for comment.
