ATLANTA — Georgia’s lieutenant governor on Monday threatened to prevent Delta Air Lines from getting a tax cut after the company ended its discount program with the National Rifle Association.

Republican Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, president of the state Senate and a leading candidate to succeed Gov. Nathan Deal, tweeted that he would use his position to kill a proposed sales tax exemption on jet fuel.

“I will kill any tax legislation that benefits (at)Delta unless the company changes its position and fully reinstates its relationship with (at)NRA,” Cagle tweeted. “Corporations cannot attack conservatives and expect us not to fight back.”

More than a dozen companies, including Metlife, Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, Best Western, Wyndham and United Airlines have ended NRA partnerships since the school shooting in Florida.

The news comes as Delta, one of the state’s largest employers, appeared close to convincing lawmakers to restore a $50 million sales tax exemption on jet fuel. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta would be the prime beneficiary of the tax cut.

The proposed exemption had been part of Deal’s larger tax overhaul. Delta said in a statement that it supports the Second Amendment and its decision “reflects the airline’s neutral status” in the national debate over guns.