A North Carolina Republican is once again in the spotlight following a heated incident with a voter, but this time, the lawmaker is accused of taking matters into his own hands.
Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., allegedly struck an attendee with a clipboard at a non-partisan event on Saturday evening after launching into a pro-Trump rant, according to a witness.
This marks the second time recently that Edwards has sparked controversy at an event with constituents, DailyMail.com reported. The incident took place during an event in Asheville, N.C., and was supposed to be focused on Hurricane Helene relief for Rotary District 7670, an area severely impacted by the storm.
The speech was expected to center on relief efforts, as it was intended to be a non-political gathering. However, Guy Gooder, a member of the Rotary club and organizer of the event, told The Charlotte Observer that Edwards deviated from the script, using part of his speech to defend Trump’s tariffs and the DOGE agenda.
“He spent 30 minutes basically insulting the Rotarians’ intelligence in his speech,” Gooder said. “He insulted many of the programs that we partner with, agencies like the State Department, and the WHO, which is polio eradication, insulted those departments, talked about maybe we can get some funding back to the State Department for polio, so our efforts can continue.”
After leaving the stage and navigating through the crowd, Edwards reportedly became involved in a heated exchange with an attendee before allegedly striking them with a clipboard, according to Gooder.
“If you do that for 30 minutes and you walk past somebody, they’re probably going to insult you back,” Gooder said.
The man involved in the incident stated he heard the strike but couldn’t see it clearly because Edwards’ body blocked his view, the reports said.
Edwards, on the other hand, claims he was the target of a belligerent tirade from an intoxicated individual. “The rotarian basically said that was a load of BS,” Gooder related. “Chuck [Edwards] stops and kind of bends over, kind of in-his-face type of stuff.”
While the alleged heckler was still in his seat, Gooder said, Edwards “hit the guy with his clipboard.”
The two men argued as they left the room, and the man who had been struck later spoke to the police over the phone, “trying to come to a resolution.”
The Asheville Police Department confirmed to local outlets that it responded to a disturbance on Saturday evening at the Embassy Suites hotel, where the event was held.
Authorities stated that the man struck with the clipboard contacted them to report the assault by Edwards. However, no charges were filed, the reports noted.
The GOP lawmaker’s office released a statement on Sunday stating Edwards “refused to engage with an intoxicated man that was cursing.”
“He became more belligerent and later called the police,” the statement continued. “His behavior was embarrassing to the people at the event and was duly noted by the police. To my knowledge, there was no further action taken by police.”
In March, Edwards faced negative media attention after hosting a town hall that quickly spiraled into chaos, with voters shouting and cursing at the Republican, DailyMail.com added.
As the room grew increasingly louder and the crowd more unruly, Edwards struggled to maintain control. Standing at the front, he appeared flustered at times, trying to manage the growing uproar of complaints.
“Bootlicker!” one attendee screamed at the March event. Another yelled, “What do you plan to do to make sure North Carolina does not get taken over by dictatorship and fascism?”
An exasperated Edwards responded at one point: “And you wonder why folks don’t want to do these town halls. I feel like this is not productive with everybody yelling at me.”