Former Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn was captured on video Monday just moments after reportedly crashing into a Florida Highway Patrol cruiser.
Video of Cawthorn was shared to X by user Alethea Shapiro, who runs a pro-Taylor Swift, pro-Palestine TikTok, who accused the ex-North Carolina politician of driving erratically prior to the accident.
“I was driving on i75S towards Miami in the left lane and this black tinted sports car was tailgating me relentlessly,” she wrote. “I accelerated ahead and moved to the right lane in front of a tractor trailer to let the car by.”
Shapiro said after letting the car pass, she came to an abrupt stop on the highway just five minutes later. After swerving to the side of the road to avoid being rear-ended, Shapiro noted that she saw a man in a wheelchair exit the black sports car and begin heading towards a highway patrol officer in front of him who was holding their neck next to a damaged cruiser.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes. It occurred to me that former CONGRESSMAN CAWTHORN from NC was the black CAR that stormed by me in an angry road rage tantrum,” she added. “I spoke to the cop to see if he was ok as he was quite stunned & kept reaching for his neck. He said he was ‘ok,’ asked if I was a witness, (I wasn’t, I must have been 30 seconds behind) and I gave them water as i didn’t know what else to do after he thanked me for stopping.”
The footage indicates that Cawthorn may have been unharmed in the crash, although the front of his vehicle was damaged. The Florida Highway Patrol, according to the Daily Mail, stated that the trooper was hospitalized for minor injuries and that an investigation had been opened into the incident.
Cawthorn, however, has seemingly declined to publicly remark on the crash as of Tuesday morning.
The 28-year-old was first elected in 2020 and represented North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District. Cawthorn lost his re-election bid in the 2022 Republican primary and has since fallen into relative obscurity.
Cawthorn has used a wheelchair since the age of 18 after being paralyzed in a car crash in which he was a passenger. As noted by Newsweek, Cawthorn had been stopped by police on three separate occasions in the lead-up to the primary. Cawthorn was cited for speeding during two of the stops and was charged with driving with a revoked license during the third stop.
While Cawthorn’s future is unclear, the ex-politician reminded the Daily Mail in November that he was “still hardcore for Trump.”
“I would fight and die for Trump,” Cawthorn said.
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