House candidate Madison Cawthorn speaks at the RNC about the future of the Republican Party

Madison Cawthorn, a 25-year-old GOP candidate for a North Carolina House seat, addressed the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night to discuss overcoming adversity and the future of the Republican Party.

Cawthorn, who was paralyzed from the waist down following a car accident six years ago, recently defeated a Trump-backed candidate in his district, putting him on track to win the congressional seat in the fall. A November victory will make him the youngest member of Congress in over 200 years.

He spoke about overcoming feelings of invisibility and hopelessness following his accident. 

"At 20, I thought about giving up. However, I knew I could still make a difference. ... I made a choice. In 2020, our country has a choice. We can give up on the American idea, or we can work together to make our imperfect union more perfect," Cawthorn said. 

The first-time candidate spoke about young Americans saving the country time and again "abroad and at home." But now, he said, "national leaders on the left have normalized emotion-based voting ... political forces want to usher in the digital dark ages – a time of information without wisdom and tribalism without truth."

It is time for the "party of freedom" to "double down on ensuring the American Dream for all people."

He spoke specifically to young conservatives, asking them to "define what we support and win the argument in areas like health care and the environment," which he recognized as modern issues of extreme importance to Americans.

He concluded by asking Americans to be radicals "for freedom ... for liberty," and "for our republic."