Madison Cawthorn rear-ended a police cruiser in Florida on Monday, slamming into her Mercedes while driving on the interstate.
In a video posted to TikTok, Cawthorn is seen in his wheelchair on the busy road next to the wrecked vehicle. It is unclear what caused the accident, but Cawthorn appears to have been uninjured.
On Twitter, a woman claims he had been following her closely first.
The crash left the state trooper with minor injuries and is now under investigation, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Cawthorn has yet to comment on the incident.
Madison Cawthorn, 28, a former North Carolina congresswoman, photographed after Monday’s apparent accident.
Road workers talk to Cawthorn next to his wrecked Mercedes after the accident. The Florida Highway Patrol said a 2021 Mercedes, similar to the model the former congressman was driving, was involved.
Shapiro says in her post that while she was driving, a black sports car with tinted windows began following her closely. Moments after changing lanes to allow the car to pass, traffic on the highway came to a complete stop.
The Trump loyalist uses a wheelchair due to a 2014 car accident in which his friend fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a concrete barrier.
A statement from the Florida Highway Patrol confirmed that an accident occurred in the area in which a cruiser rear-ended another car, causing minor injuries to a trooper.
Until now, the driver of the other vehicle was only described as a 28-year-old man from Cape Coral, Florida.
The former congressman-turned-MAGA activist served as congressman for North Carolina’s 11th district from 2021-2023.
He was ousted the first time he asked, losing the district’s 2022 primary to Chuck Edwards.
Cawthorn regularly appeared on cable news claiming that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen and quickly became a favorite of former President Donald Trump.
Cawthorn’s two years in office were marked by a series of political and personal mistakes, including police stops while driving; being caught with firearms at airport checkpoints; calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “thug”; and the publication of videos that show him in sexually suggestive poses.
He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor related weapons charge and said there was “no excuse” for the error in judgment.
Cawthorn was also found with an unloaded gun in 2021 while trying to board a plane at Asheville Regional Airport.
Airport police confiscated the gun but allowed him to board.
Some gaffes have grabbed headlines, like one that irritated fellow Republicans who believe he implied they were having orgies and snorting cocaine.
Also in 2021, Cawthorn filed for divorce after a year of marriage to fitness influencer Cristina Bayardelle. In a statement, she said she was not prepared for how her political career would affect their relationship.
‘I want to live in the world he creates, but I don’t want to marry someone who is changing the world. While we have agreed to be apart now, we still have a great friendship and there is no ill will. “Madison is a fighter, she will help save this country,” he said at the time.
Just over a year later, Bayardelle became engaged to a Brazilian underwear model and the couple is now married.
Cawthorn later criticized conspiracy theorists who alleged that his ex-wife was a Russian spy.
In 2022, Cawthorn was charged with driving with a suspended license after it was temporarily revoked for speeding tickets.
‘Oh really. As I moved to let him pass, he hit the accelerator so hard and fast that the engine revved hard and I rolled my eyes and thought, “What an impatient baby.” So seeing this result was pretty SHOCKING,” Shapiro wrote in a follow-up message.
The Asheville Citizen Times reported in November 2022 that Cawthorn, who had won election in 2020 at age 25, had purchased a home in Cape Coral, Florida. He later said in an Instagram post that there were “many reasons” for the move.
“I enjoy the position I’m in now,” said Cawthorn, ’23. “The world really is the oyster to the young people.”
“I remain a staunch Trump supporter,” Cawthorn told DailyMail.com in November 2023, adding, “I would fight and die for Trump.”
For about a year, Cawthorn was married to fitness influencer Cristina Bayardelle.