By Moira Warburton and David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican U.S. Representative Madison Cawthorn has been cited by police for possessing a gun at an airport, according to local media, adding to a string of controversies for the first-term lawmaker ahead of a contested primary election.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration confirmed that agents had detected a firearm at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina on Tuesday morning, but declined to release passenger details.
The news was reported by WSOC-TV in Charlotte, citing anonymous sources. Neither Cawthorn's office nor the Charlotte police department immediately returned requests for comment. The TSA did not confirm whether a gun had been confiscated.
Cawthorn, who is fighting to hold onto his North Carolina seat in the May 17 Republican primary, had been stopped in February 2021 for attempting to carry a gun through security at an airport in Asheville, North Carolina, but has not faced criminal charges for doing so. He is, however, facing criminal charges for driving with a revoked license and has racked up multiple speeding tickets.
Though he has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, Cawthorn angered many fellow Republicans after calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy a "thug" and alleging that he had witnessed cocaine use in Washington and been invited to sex parties.
State Senator Chuck Edwards leads the field of seven candidates looking to unseat Cawthorn. Edwards has been endorsed by U.S. Senator Thom Tillis. If no candidate receives 30%, a runoff will take place on July 26. The seat, based in the mountainous western part of the state, is considered safely Republican.
(Reporting by Moira Warburton and David Shepardson in Washington; editing by Andy Sullivan and Leslie Adler)
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