An opposition group that is actively campaigning against Rep. Madison Cawthorn has released a video clip appearing to show the North Carolina Republican naked in bed and, as Cawthorn described it, "being crass with a friend" and "acting foolish."

After the video appeared on social media, Cawthorn tweeted, "A new hit against me just dropped. Years ago, in this video, I was being crass with a friend, trying to be funny.

We were acting foolish, and joking. That's it. I'm NOT backing down. I told you there would be a drip drip campaign. Blackmail won't win. We will."

It's the latest controversy for the 26-year-old, who is running for reelection with early voting already underway. The primary will be held on May 17.

The freshman Republican has angered and annoyed a number of his colleagues with a string of antics. Cawthorn became a national figure in 2020 when he beat then-President Donald Trump's endorsed candidate in the primary to replace then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in Congress. 

Late last month, Cawthorn was cited for bringing a loaded handgun through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at the Charlotte airport. 

And in February 2021, agents at the Asheville Regional Airport found an unloaded gun and a loaded magazine in Cawthorn's carry-on bag.

 A Cawthorn spokesman told the Asheville Citizen-Times when the paper published a story about the incident in July 2021 that the congressman had had brought the gun "by mistake." Cawthorn was not charged.