Republican congressman Madison Cawthorn (N.C) used Wednesday’s House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing about the impact of toxic exposure from burn pits on U.S. service members, to clean his gun.
According to the Daily Beast, Cawthorn was seen playing with his gun for several minutes during the zoom hearing but it became more apparent during the testimony of Jen Burch, a six-year Air Force veteran who developed breathing problems after being exposed to a toxic military “burn pit” in Afghanistan.
John Feal, a 9/11 first responder who was at the virtual meeting told The Daily Beast that Cawthorn’s behavior was “immature.”
“He’s a child,” Feal continued. “He lacks common sense. I think the congressman was overcompensating for something that he lacks and feeling inadequate among the heroes on that call.”
Lindsay Church, co-founder of Minority Veterans of America also slammed Cawthorn in a statement on Twitter, writing: “Imagine you showed up for a Zoom meeting and a colleague decided that was when he needed to clean his gun. Because that’s what happened today in a Congressional roundtable on toxic exposure. We’re better than this.”
Rosie Lopez Torres, the co-founder of Burn Pits 360, called Cawthorn’s actions “insane.”
“Total disregard and disrespect to America’s warfighters,” she told The Daily Beast. “He was so bored with the topic. Those that are sick and dying and the widows in his district should see how much he cares about the issue.”
Asked if Cawthorn working on his gun during a hearing on such a serious issue was appropriate, Luke Ball the congressman’s spokesperson said: “What could possibly be more patriotic than guns and veterans?”
