A conservative Christian truck driver refused to help a stranded woman with severe disabilities because she was a Bernie Sanders supporter.

Ken Shupe received the call to pick up Cassandra McWade from a highway in Asheville, North Carolina, because her car would not start after a tractor collided with her. McWade has psoriatic arthritis, impaired mobility, early stage Crohn's disease, severe fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Shupe arrived at the scene but when he saw a Bernie Sanders poster in her car he told McWade: "I can't tow you...you're a Bernie supporter."

He said he was a conservative Christian and had "just drawn a line in the sand".

He said: "I'm not going to associate or conduct business with them."

Shupe runs Shupe Max Towing but would not tow McWade because she was "obviously a socialist", according to Fox Carolina. He suggested she "call the government".

He said he did not realise McWade was disabled but said, had he known, he would still not have towed her away but would have waited until another lift had arrived. He said McWade was "sitting there in a very safe area ... with her air conditioning on and her car locked, she was perfectly fine."

McWade's mother, Kelle McWade, posted the story on Facebook. "I'm guessing he's a Trump supporter", she added.

Shupe said he initially supported Ben Carson and Mike Huckabee for the Republican nomination but now that Trump was the presumptive nominee he would support him "100 per cent".

He said in an earlier interview: "I'm the farthest thing from a bigot or a racist" and told Fox Carolina: "I respect their beliefs, and I hope they respect my views."

He added he would probably have done the same had McWade been a Clinton supporter. "I have the same principles there," he said.