Rep. Madison Cawthorn (AP/Andrew Harnik) (AP/Andrew Harnik)
Madison Cawthorn

A Republican congressman urging his constituents to “uphold Christian principles” gave Jewish biblical heroes as examples, including one who lived 1,000 years before Jesus.

“Look at David, look at Daniel, look at Esther — look at all the people who influenced the government of their day to uphold Christian principles,” House Representative Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) said in a new campaign ad released Sunday night that declared that a “spiritual battle” is happening on Capitol Hill, Times of Israel reported.

This is not the first time Cawthorn has appropriated a piece of Jewish history in service of his campaign, the Times noted. Meeting with North Carolina Jewish leaders in January, he apologized for a tweet using an adaptation of a well-known poem about the Holocaust to promote his campaign.

According to biblical chronology, King David lived about 1,000 years before Jesus.

In an interview with Jewish Insider in November 2020, The Jerusalem Post reported at the time, Cawthorn said he has read through “just about every single religious work there is,” the Torah and the Quran included — in part to become better at proselytizing. He claims he has succeeded with “culturally Jewish people” but not religious ones.

“[Muslims] believe Jesus is a real person,” he said. “But being a practicing Jew, like, people who are religious about it, they are very difficult. I’ve had a hard time connecting with them in that way.”