GASTONIA, N.C.—President Donald Trump urged North Carolinians to vote Republican this November at a rally on the sunny tarmac of the Gastonia Municipal Airport in front of thousands of supporters.
“In this election, I’m asking you to pretend I’m on the ballot just one more time,” Trump said during the approximately hour-long Sept. 16 address. “Because, essentially, I am.”
Trump stumped for Michael Whatley, the Republican candidate vying for the U.S. Senate seat to be left vacant by Sen. Tom Tillis (R-N.C.), who will retire.
With Republicans holding a 53 to 47 seat majority in the Senate, North Carolina presents the clearest path for Democrats to pick up a victory, based on recent polling data.
Whatley will face former Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat who leads aggregate polling by an average of seven points, as of Tuesday.
Cooper’s campaign is focused on the economy, emphasizing fuel and food prices, with a slogan of “Make Stuff Cost Less.”
Whatley told the crowd of thousands that Cooper “made stuff cost more” during his eight-year stint as governor.
“If he gets elected to the Senate, he will vote every single day to bring back Joe Biden’s inflationary policies that made gas prices and grocery prices and housing prices go through the roof,” Whatley said.
“Not only does he want to send our economy back into a ditch, not only does he stand against our families, but he made the single most destructive decision any governor in the history of our state has ever made.”
He criticized Cooper’s public safety record, particularly his decision to release approximately 4,200 prisoners. More than half were later re-apprehended after committing additional crimes, including dozens charged with murder.
The conservative candidate described cashless bail as a revolving door for criminals, citing the killing of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a light rail train in North Carolina last August.
Surveillance video shows Decarlos Dejuan Brown, Jr., who had at least 14 prior arrests, stabbing Zarutska from behind. He is currently undergoing mental health treatment after U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Bell declared him unfit to stand trial.
“That monster should have never been on the streets,” Whatley said. “That monster should have never been on that light rail car, and her blood is on Roy Cooper’s hands.”
He challenged his opponents’ ideology, painting Cooper as a socialist.
“We fought two world wars and two other wars to beat socialism, to beat communism, and we are not going to let them win here,” Whatley said.
Cooper has repeatedly denounced the criticisms of his record, calling for more scrutiny of Whatley’s lobbying efforts.
“Elected officials should focus on lowering costs and delivering for the people they represent, not gaming how they will cash out on their connections when they leave office,” Cooper said in a statement. “I won’t lobby after leaving office.”
Attorney General Todd Blanche also spoke at the rally, highlighting the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce crime. He noted that homicide rates nationwide are at rates last seen in 1900, and that fentanyl trafficking has plummeted 56 percent in the last year, with overdose deaths falling 21 percent.
He promised more action to protect Americans from crime and fraud schemes.
“There are still fraudsters trying to steal your money, but to every one of them who hasn’t gotten the message, be careful because President Trump is going to hold you accountable,” Blanche said.
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