‘I am still with that guy’: Whatley doubles down on Trump at North Carolina event

GASTONIA — North Carolina resident Charles Whatley hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976. It was his first time voting.

In the past 50 years, he said he’s alternated between choosing Republicans and independents, depending on who’s running.

“A lot of it is independent politics is better, such different ideas,” Charles Whatley told NC Newsline. “People always tell me I’m wasting votes. I don’t think any vote is wasted.”

Whatley came to Gastonia Wednesday to hear President Donald Trump make his case, but he already plans to vote for Republican candidate Michael Whatley (no relation) in North Carolina’s 2026 U.S. Senate race.

Michael Whatley, former chair of the Republican National Committee and North Carolina Republican Party, is vying for the Tar Heel State’s open Senate seat. Whatley has never run for public office before, but won the 2026 Republican primary with Trump’s endorsement.

But he’s trailing his opponent, Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper, in recent polls and fundraising. That’s led to Trump visiting Gastonia on Wednesday to mobilize the GOP base.

Speaking to a crowd of less than 1000 people at the Gastonia regional airport, Trump reminded North Carolinians that he’s won the state six times, including in the primaries. In 2024, he won more votes than any candidate in North Carolina history, he said, thanking Whatley for his assistance with those victories.

“I said to everybody, anybody that would listen, ‘Wwhen I win this thing, I’m going to take that guy from North Carolina, make him the head of the Republican Party,’ which is exactly what I did,” Trump said. “He was fantastic. Nobody better in the whole country. I had my choice of the whole country, I chose Michael Whatley.”

Trump’s approval rating in North Carolina has hovered in the mid-thirties, and some GOP candidates have reportedly shied away from campaigning with him. But Michael Whatley didn’t pull away from the president.

“Back in 2015, I got a call from Trump Tower, asking me if I would help a businessman run for president in North Carolina, and at that time he was at 1% in the polls. He was 15th out of 15 in that Republican primary, and I said yes,” Whatley told the crowd, standing next to Trump on stage.

“Here we are, 11 years later, and every single day, Donald Trump is fighting to make America great, and I am still with that guy,” Whatley said.

North Carolina’s Senate seat could be critical to majority control of the upper chamber. Cook Political Report rates the race as “lean Democrat.”

At the moment, Republicans hold 53 seats, while Democrats have 45. Two independent senators caucus with the Democrats.

“Trump can fly to Gastonia and throw all the rallies he wants, but it won’t change the fact that Republicans are chained to a toxic president North Carolinians are fed up with,” Senate Majority PAC press secretary Chrystina Thompson said. “This was a panic move to reassure their base.”

Affordability

According to a recent Elon Poll, inflation and the cost of living are by far the top concern for North Carolina voters. But they were barely mentioned at Wednesday night’s event.

Cooper maintains lead over Whatley as pocketbook issues dominate NC’s critical US Senate race

Michael Whatley blamed Cooper and former President Joe Biden for the affordability crisis, even though neither Democrat has held office since 2024. He claimed that Cooper would “raise your taxes” if elected.

“That’s not an answer, folks,” Whatley told the crowd. “Every single time your family has sought to get ahead and live the American dream, Roy Cooper has been on the wrong side of that discussion.”

A Cooper campaign spokesperson told NC Newsline the attacks were false.

“Roy Cooper cut taxes for working families and seniors and is running for the U.S. Senate to make stuff cost less,” the spokesperson said.

Whatley didn’t explain what he would do to address the affordability crisis. Trump claimed his administration was creating jobs at historical rates, without acknowledging his cuts to the federal workforce.

Trump called the affordability crisis “fake news,” and reiterated his promise of a $5000 check for every adult if Republicans win in November.

Outside experts have said the proposal would cost the country $1.2 billion on top of a current $40 billion deficit. But the president insisted his tariffs — which are largely paid for by American consumers – would pay for it .

“Right now, we have more Americans working than at any time in the history of our country,” Trump said.

However, the raw numbers don’t factor in population growth. Trump didn’t mention the unemployment rate, which currently stands around 4.1%

‘Blood on Roy Cooper’s hands’

GOP leaders framed the rally as “making America safe again,” criticizing Cooper’s record on crime. They blamed Cooper for releasing violent criminals.

“He made the single most destructive decision any governor in the history of our state has ever made, releasing over 4,200 criminals, hardened criminals, back onto our streets,” Michael Whatley said.

Michael Whatley referred to a 2021 legal settlement between Cooper’s administration and civil rights groups to release prisoners close to parole to reduce prison overcrowding during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, in 2020, Whatley and the NCGOP originally criticized Cooper for not doing enough to protect inmates from the virus, and the Trump administration released more than 13,000 federal prisoners for the same reason that year.

Trump, however, doubled down on the attack line.

“We’re going to defeat the murderer and criminal protector,” Trump said of Cooper. “He’s a murderer protector, the man who made North Carolina the talk of our country.”

During his four terms as North Carolina’s attorney general, Cooper served as the state’s top law enforcement official for 16 years.

“Independent fact-checkers have called these attacks false — Michael Whatley is getting desperate and it’s shameful that he’s using heinous crimes to try to deceive North Carolinians,” a Cooper campaign spokesperson told NC Newsline.