Former Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn is not having the best of times after being booted from Congress in his 2022 primary. The former lawmaker was seen rear-ending a Florida state trooper just a few days ago, and one of the witnesses claimed that Cawthorn (she believes) had been tailgaiting her prior to his run-in with law enforcement. Cawthorn has a history of traffic violations, and that’s something that the new Florida resident needs to understand is taken VERY seriously in this state. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains what happened.

Transcript:

*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

For anybody who’s been wondering what former Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn has been up to since he of course left Congress at the end of the year 2022, the answer is he’s not doing so well. According to reports, Madison Cawthorn actually rear-ended a Florida Highway Patrol officer, and part of this was actually caught on tape. Now, some people may not be surprised by this story at all. I mean, before he lost his primary election, so he’d only been in office about a year and a half, Madison Cawthorn had already been pulled over by police officers three times during his time in Congress, two for speeding, one for driving on a suspended license. So for him to move out of North Carolina, move down to Florida, and then rear-end a cop. Yeah, that kind of seems on par with what we know from Madison Cawthorn, which of course is a shame because he is of course, partially paralyzed because of a car accident that he was in at 18 years old.

So you would think somebody that had their life altered in such a tremendous way from a vehicle accident, you would think that this would be the kind of person that may slow it down and be a little more safe on the road. Right? But apparently not. So here’s what happened. A woman by the name of Alethea Shapiro was driving, I believe it was this past Sunday in Miami, about 4:30 PM and she said quote, there was a black sports car that began tailgating her. I ignored it, assuming the person would go around me if they were so impatient. When they didn’t, I just decided to change lanes so I didn’t have to stress it. She then said, traffic shortly up the road a little bit after she got over and the black car flew past her traffic came to a standstill.

Now, if you’ve ever driven on the interstate in Florida, especially down there like I-75, that happens. It sucks, and it can take you sometimes hours just to go a couple miles. So yeah, Florida traffic just does randomly stop dead still. And apparently Madison Cawthorn, of course, being a new transplant to Florida, maybe not familiar with that. And so then the woman got a little bit up the road where traffic was stopped and she saw that black sports car that had been tailgating her, had rear-ended a Florida Highway Patrolman. She then says, suddenly the car door opens and a man in a wheelchair rolls out. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It occurred to me that former Congressman Cawthorn from North Carolina was the black car that stormed by me in an angry road rage tantrum. I could see him mouth, I am so sorry a few times to the police officer.

So she stops. She gets out and goes over and starts talking to the officer. She says, I informed him of who the driver was and he confirmed it. I asked several times if he was sure he was okay and if he wanted me to stay, and he said he was fine and he thanked me for stopping. He asked if I witnessed the accident and I told him I did not. But that I must have been 30 seconds behind. As I sat there processing it, it hit me. I think that’s the same black car that was behind me. The Highway Patrol has of course now confirmed that, yes, Madison Cawthorn was involved in this accident. The woman believes that the black car that was tailgating her was Madison Cawthorn. She’s not a hundred percent sure on that, but you know, if her story is accurate, it does add up that this is Madison Cawthorn. So again, in case you’ve been wondering what’s been going on with Madison Cawthorn, the answer is he’s still immature, still a bit of a, and still a threat when he’s behind the wheel.

Farron Cousins is the executive editor of The Trial Lawyer magazine and a contributing writer at DeSmogBlog.com. He is the co-host / guest host for Ring of Fire Radio. His writings have appeared on Alternet, Truthout, and The Huffington Post. Farron received his bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of West Florida in 2005 and became a member of American MENSA in 2009. Follow him on Twitter @farronbalanced