WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards said he was the victim of a drunken man’s belligerence on Saturday night, but a Rotarian who helped organize the event where Edwards spoke said the congressman was the aggressor — striking a man in anger with a clipboard after finishing his speech.

Guy Gooder says he heard, but didn’t see, Edwards hit the man and couldn’t tell where the blow landed. Edwards’ body was between Gooder and the other man, blocking his view, Gooder said.

Edwards’ staff did not return a phone call Monday. Apart from saying no one was injured and no one was arrested, police have not provided an official version of events that night.

What’s not in dispute: Edwards was scheduled to speak at 6 p.m. Saturday to Rotarians gathered in Asheville at the conference held by Rotary District 7670.

Rotary clubs are intended not to be partisan or sectarian. So Guy Gooder, the district’s community service project chair and a corporate sponsor of the event, said he had concerns as soon as he learned Edwards was a speaker, but he didn’t expect what he witnessed Saturday night.

Gooder, a graphic designer from Franklin, said Edwards was invited to speak about Helene relief and recovery, as Buncombe County Board of Commissioner Chairwoman Amanda Edwards — who is not related — had done the night before. He said she stayed on script. Edwards did not.

Gooder said Edwards used his speech to defend President Donald Trump’s administration, including on tariffs and cuts to federal agencies.

Gooder said while Edwards said he might try to restore funding to the State Department to help the Rotarians’ cause of polio eradication, he also spent his speech “insulting” the federal agencies the Rotarians work with most closely.

The Rotary put out a statement in February following the Trump administration’s decision to pull out of the World Health Organization and to gut the U.S. Agency for International Development. Doing so complicated the club’s mission to eradicate polio.

“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.”

Gooder, a critic of Trump who is registered as an unaffiliated voter, serves on the Franklin Tourism Development Authority board.

Gooder stresses the importance of Rotarians to check their views on politics at the door when they walk into Rotarian events.

The confrontation involving Edwards

When Edwards wrapped his speech, he had to walk down a center aisle between tables of Rotarians to get out the back door.

“If you do that for 30 minutes and you walk past somebody, they’re probably going to insult you back,” Gooder said.

And that’s what happened.

A man sitting at a table in the aisle addressed Edwards.

“The Rotarian basically said that was a load of B.S.,” Gooder said.

“Chuck stops and kind of bends over, kind of in-his-face type of stuff,” said Gooder, who said he was at the next table over, “and then it continues from there.”

Edwards, he said, “hit the guy with his clipboard” while the man was still seated.

Gooder said the two men left the room and continued arguing out of view of the Rotarians.

Gooder identified the man, who told McClatchy he couldn’t answer any questions but that he had just gotten off the phone with a police detective and that they’re “trying to come to a resolution.”

What Edwards says

McClatchy reached out to Edwards’ office Saturday night. His spokeswoman Maria Kim said a statement was forthcoming.

Midday Sunday, without a statement, but with confirmation from the Asheville Police Department that Edwards was present at a disturbance at the hotel where the Rotary conference took place, McClatchy published an article about police being called to the hotel.

Edwards then immediately released a statement saying he “refused to engage with an intoxicated man that was cursing.”

“He became more belligerent and later called the police,” Edwards’ statement said. “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.”

Gooder defended the man, saying he was not belligerent. He said in all the years he’s been with the Rotary he’s never seen anyone be belligerent and that if a member was, such behavior would be shut down quickly. It’s not tolerated.

A message Sunday to ask about tips that Edwards was in fact the aggressor went unanswered.

Seeking to verify those tips, McClatchy reached out by phone, text and email to organizers and people in attendance. McClatchy first reached out to Gooder on Sunday, who responded by email Monday morning agreeing to speak about what he witnessed.

On Monday, after speaking to Gooder, McClatchy called Kim again and left a voicemail, but has not received any updates from Edwards’ staff.

The Asheville Police Department has not released any additional information. McClatchy has requested both the 911 call and the police report from the incident. The latter was not yet complete as of 4:30 p.m. Monday.

The Rotarians were scheduled for a dinner break following Edwards’ speech. Gooder said everyone could see the police cars that had arrived at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in downtown Asheville where the event was taking place and knew it had to do with what had just occurred.

He said the two organizers of the conference went on stage and apologized.

“I was at least impressed by that,” Gooder said. “I thought it was a terrible decision anyway, obviously, to roll the dice like that on a very partisan politician, but if the worst case scenario happens, at least you get up there and apologize.”

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