GOP congressional candidate Madison Cawthorn aims to be 'face' of health care reform

Madison Cawthorn, a real estate investment CEO who beat out a Trump-backed U.S. House candidate in North Carolina’s Republican primary runoff election to replace former Rep. Mark Meadows in June, told “Mornings with Maria” on Wednesday that he wants to be “the face for the Republican Party for health care reform” since he is “pretty much the principal consumer of health care in our country.”

Cawthorn, said in a Facebook post, that he was nominated to the U.S. Naval Academy by Meadows as a teenager in 2014, but was unable to go when he was partially paralyzed in a car crash that left him in a wheelchair.

He said he credits the accident with strengthening his faith and making him a "fighter" who appreciates every day. It has also inspired him to try to help everyone he "encounters overcome whatever adversity they face in their daily lives."

The political newcomer said on Wednesday that he thinks that “one of the biggest failings of the Republican Party for the past few decades is just that we have not had a real plan when it comes to health care.”

He then outlined his plan, which he said is “very simple.”

Cawthorn said his plan involves “utilizing the free market and opening up competition so these insurance companies don’t have such a vice grip on individual states, like where I’m at in North Carolina, Blue Cross Blue Shield has a monopoly all across the state and creates artificially high prices.”

He went on to provide what he called an “overly simple analogy” to explain his point.

“Where I live in Henderson County in North Carolina, at my house six different pizza companies will deliver pizza to my house whenever I order it,” Cawthorn said. “That means they have to compete for my dollars.”

“They’re going to try to give me the best pizza for the lowest price as fast as they can and I want to apply that same principle of free-market tactics to health care,” he continued.

Cawthorn’s appearance on “Morning’s with Maria” came hours before he was scheduled to speak during the third night of the Republican National Convention.

Cawthorn said his speech will focus on health care and the environment, which he said “are two areas that we can win the argument on and our ideas work better than the Democrats.”

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He went on to say that he will also be talking “about how young people can change the world” and “the country.”

“I think that it’s time for a young generation of patriots to rise up and try and take the helm and combat this liberal ideology that seems to have taken root in our generation,” Cawthorn added.

Cawthorn beat out the Trump-backed U.S. House candidate in North Carolina’s Republican primary runoff election at the age of 24. He turned 25 earlier this month, the minimum age to be in Congress.

Host Maria Bartiromo noted that if he is elected in November, Cawthorn will be the youngest member in Congress.

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She then asked him, “What do you want to say to young people about what’s at stake in this election?”

“The number one thing I want to tell young people is that you’ve been lied to about the Republican Party,” Cawthorn said. “We’re not a party of rich, old white guys, we are the party of freedom.”

“I want to put the pin of destiny in your hand and allow you to decide what you do with your life, not some three-letter agency who wants to dictate all the choices you’re able to make, whether it’s with your business or life, and I want you to have the freedom to live life on your own terms,” he continued.

Cawthorn calls himself a constitutional conservative who is “committed to defending the values of faith, family and freedom that have made America great.” He also works as a motivational speaker.

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The candidate will face Democrat Moe Davis, a former military prosecutor, in November.

Fox News’ Brie Stimson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.