Republican US Senate candidate Michael Whatley wasn’t exactly searching for kind words to say about former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper during an appearance on Fox News Tuesday.
Asked about the difficult Senate race in North Carolina, Whatley went a lot further than calling Cooper too liberal or saying he’d been a bad governor.
Whatley said, “North Carolina is always going to be tough, but we’re going to win because Roy Cooper was the worst governor in the history of North Carolina.”
That’s a big claim in a state that has had governors for more than 200 years, but Whatley was just getting started on his Democratic opponent.
He said, “He is going to join the Democrats every single time and vote for open borders. He’s going to vote for inflationary spending and a woke, weak America. He’s going to be locked up with Chuck Schumer, James Talarico and the rest of the woke mob. That’s not what North Carolina needs.”
Whatley, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, is facing Cooper in one of the highest-profile US Senate races in the country. The two are running for the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.
Whatley spoke with Martha MacCallum on Fox News’ “The Story” from Dallas, where Republicans are gathering for an unusual two-day midterm convention Wednesday, Sept. 9 and Thursday, Sept. 10.
President Donald Trump came up with the idea of holding a Republican convention in a midterm election year as a way to generate enthusiasm and turnout in an election when Trump himself isn’t on the ballot. Trump is scheduled to appear both nights – and the event will include more than 50 speakers including Vice President JD Vance, members of the Trump administration, members of Congress and Republican candidates.
Trump has said that some Republicans might stay home because they only come out to vote for him and his theory is that the best way for Republicans to do well in November is for voter to pretend that he is actually on the ballot.
Trump and the Republicans probably could have come up with better timing for the convention. Those two nights are also the when the first two NFL games of the season will be broadcast and those always have massive ratings.
Still, some people will watch the convention and Whatley is among those scheduled to speak.
Asked what he hoped the convention would accomplish, Whatley said Republicans needed to use it to draw a sharp contrast between the two parties.
“In North Carolina, good policy is good politics, and Roy Cooper is on the wrong side of every single policy issue,” Whatley said.
He added, “What we need to do is use this convention to have a conversation about the contrast that we have in this election cycle between Republican common sense and the Democrats who are pushing very hard for a democratic socialist or even a communist agenda, where they want to take America further and further to the left. Roy Cooper is going to march to the left with the Democrats.”
MacCallum then turned to what may be a more immediate problem for Whatley – the economy. Cooper has made affordability one of the central themes of his campaign and last week his campaign released a television ad consisting largely of Whatley’s own previous comments about prices.
The ad opens with Cooper saying, “I’m going to show you something. No AI, no special effects. Just Michael Whatley in his own words.”
It then cuts to Whatley saying, “Grocery prices are down. Gasoline prices are down. Housing prices are down. Inflation is down.”
After Cooper responds, “Unbelievable,” the ad shows another Whatley clip in which he says, “There is no inflation.”
Cooper then looks into the camera and says, “Seriously?”
The quotations are authentic, although there is some context missing from the ad. FactCheck.org found that Whatley’s statement about grocery, gasoline, housing prices and inflation came from July 2025, while his “there is no inflation” comment came in January 2026. The fact-checking organization found that some of his earlier claims were more defensible at the time they were made – although grocery prices had not actually declined and inflation wasn’t zero.
Cooper’s campaign launched the ad statewide Sept. 1 as part of what it said was a seven-figure television, streaming and digital buy.
MacCallum played part of the Cooper ad for Whatley Tuesday and asked him to respond.
Whatley didn’t back away from defending the Republican economic record, but he shifted the comparison to the economy inherited from former President Joe Biden.
“Roy Cooper and Joe Biden left the American economy in a ditch,” Whatley said. “They drove up inflation 9 percent year over year, 20 percent over four years. Grocery prices, gasoline prices, housing prices went up on their watch, and Republicans are doing everything they can to bring down interest rates, to bring down inflation and make sure that every American can make more and keep more of their money.”
MacCallum pressed Whatley further, asking what would happen politically if the Federal Reserve raised interest rates shortly before the November election.
Whatley again shifted focus to the broader Republican economic message.
“I think what we need to do is strengthen the American economy,” he said. “When we talk about inflation, when we talk about high prices, Roy Cooper’s only solution is to raise taxes. That is not going to work in North Carolina, and it will not work when he votes nationally in the Senate, if he does, to raise taxes every single time. We need to make sure that people make more and they keep more.”
MacCallum followed up more directly, asking whether a Federal Reserve rate increase would create a tougher political environment for Whatley.
“We need to bring down interest rates,” Whatley said. “We need to bring down inflation. We need to make sure that people are going to make more money and they’re going to take home more money and keep more of their money.”
The economy isn’t the only issue that is major in the race: MacCallum also asked Whatley about the war with Iran and the effect rising oil and gasoline prices could have on voters.
Whatley said, “I agree with President Trump. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. They cannot be able to develop and deploy nuclear weapons.”
He added that the United States needed to get the situation under control and keep oil flowing from the Middle East.
The North Carolina race is among a relatively small number of contests expected to play a major role in determining control of the US Senate. Republicans currently hold the seat – making it particularly important to both parties.
As for Whatley’s declaration that Cooper was the “worst governor in the history of North Carolina,” that one may be a little hard to justify.
North Carolina became a state in 1789, and a few of its former governors have accumulated résumés over the past two centuries that would at least make the competition interesting.
There was Charles Brantley Aycock, governor from 1901 to 1905. Aycock is remembered as the state’s “Education Governor,” but he was also an outspoken white supremacist who helped promote the 1900 constitutional amendment designed to disenfranchise Black voters through literacy tests, poll taxes and a grandfather clause. NCpedia notes that Aycock believed politics should be reserved for the white race and worked closely with legislators on the disenfranchisement effort.
Then there was Cameron Morrison, governor from 1921 to 1925. Before becoming governor, Morrison was a leader of the Red Shirts – an organization that used intimidation and threats of violence against Black citizens and political opponents during North Carolina’s white-supremacy campaigns around the turn of the century.
And no discussion of troubled North Carolina governorships would be complete without William Woods Holden, who, in 1871, became the first – and remains the only – North Carolina governor to be impeached, convicted and removed from office. His impeachment followed his use of state troops against the Ku Klux Klan after murders and widespread Klan violence in Alamance and Caswell counties. He was convicted in part for arrests made during what became known as the Kirk-Holden War and for refusing to honor writs of habeas corpus.
So whether Cooper really managed during his eight years in Raleigh to outperform all of those candidates for the title of worst governor in North Carolina history is certainly a matter Whatley and Cooper won’t agree on.
With just eight weeks left before Election Day, Whatley has a lot of ground to make up.
Kalshi prediction markets currently place Cooper’s chances of victory at 91 percent to 9 percent for Whatley. Recent public polling has told much the same general story, with polls from High Point University, Harper Polling, Elon University, Change Research and Fox News all showing Cooper well ahead of Whatley.
Roy Cooper: If polls are correct, your next new member of DSA.
Truth hurts, don’t it.
Cooper is definitely the worst governor in NC.
Roy Cooper was so eager to make Biden happy during his last four years as governor that he pushed the Green New Deal in NC at taxpayers’ expense.
However, according to Atlas Public Policy, North Carolina’s costly EV policies have led to the highest number of cancellations of announced clean energy manufacturing jobs, raising concerns about taxpayer investments.
Cooper’s administration directed millions in state and federal funding toward EV infrastructure, highlighted by a $5.92 million award in 2024 to initiate a 50-location charging network via federal NEVI funds. The state managed $109 million in federal funds for future expansion and utilized funds from a Volkswagen Settlement.
Cooper’s Executive Order 246 set a target of 1.25 million registered ZEVs (Zero-Emission Vehicles) in the state by 2030, aiming for 50% of new vehicle sales to be electric by then.
As of 2025, electric vehicles account for less than 2% of all registered vehicles in NC, approximately 150,000 vehicles. NC has 8.5 million registered vehicles, of which 98% are gas- or diesel-powered. EVs are currently mostly second cars or local commuter vehicles.
Cooper, whose education is in law, not business, fell hook, line, and sinker for a company named VinFast, which was going to manufacture electric vehicles on a 2,000-acre site in Chatham County.
Many states offer incentives and subsidies to companies to locate in their state. States conduct rigorous due diligence to ensure the investment benefits taxpayers. They screen companies by analyzing their financial health, tax compliance, and corporate funds.
Apparently, Cooper decided against cost-benefit modeling, ignoring reviews, facts, and due diligence about VinFast to push taxpayer-funded support for a company with questionable prospects, raising concerns about his spending priorities.
Michael Munger, economics professor and director of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Duke University, said about VinFast, “We’re paying more than the economic benefit to a specific company.”
Brian Balfour, senior vice president of research at the John Locke Foundation, told Carolina Journal that VinFast was arguably the largest corporate welfare deal in state history. Balfour went on to say, “To try to force North Carolina taxpayers to be tied to this specific company in this specific industry for more than three decades—it’s just absurd.”
Le Thi Thu Thuy, the former global VinFast CEO, wrote to Senator Thom Tillis, saying, “Eliminating our vehicles from the federal rebate program (consumer purchase rebates and other subsidies) threatens to torpedo our entry into the US market, and drastically alter our expansion plans.”
In the last three years, VinFast has sold approximately 1,600 vehicles in the U.S. from its Vietnam plant. But they have recalled these vehicles due to issues that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said could “increase the risk of a crash.”
Trade publications have universally criticized VinFast, with Road & Track Magazine stating that the “VinFast VF 8 has the worst body control of any modern car it’s ever driven.”
Jalopnik, an American online magazine focused on cars, was overwhelmingly critical of the Vietnamese automaker’s market struggles, vehicle shortcomings, and massive financial bleeding, noting net losses that often exceed $700 million to $800 million per quarter.
Motor Trend said the VinFast vehicle is very, very bad and needs a lot of work.
In 2021 through 2024, VinFast incurred a net loss of $8.3 billion. VinFast said it would start churning out 150,000 cars a year in NC beginning in 2024. To date, they have produced zero EVs in NC.
In 2022, Cooper’s NC Department of Transportation told dozens of homeowners, several businesses, and a church that their properties needed to be demolished through eminent domain for the ambiguous term “public benefit” to make way for the construction of a new factory for VinFast.
Now, AG Jeff Jackson has to try to clean up Cooper’s mess and will sue VinFast for a breach of agreements to take control of the Chatham County land. NC taxpayers have spent $95.7 million, per David Rhoades of the North Carolina Department of Commerce. Will taxpayers get their money back? Not Likely!
Cooper often says he puts North Carolinians first. So far, the NCDOT has spent millions building a road to nowhere in Chatham County. Thank you, Roy.
FYI, he is the only Governor in NC so he is also the best Governor in NC.
Few notes about Cooper to counter your biased views:
– Cooper did not support the Green New Deal but does respect science about climate change and the need to move away from carbon-based energy as much as possible.
– The investment in charging stations was only 5% of total NEVI funds and was a good idea at the time given the government’s subsidies for EVs….which now removed, did not meet Cooper’ss goals but that was by design of the current administration.
– Vinfast is a mess but to claim someone else would have seen the level of issues involved is BS. The deal was structured to limit the total incentive so only $99 million of the $1.2 Billion because the structure of the deal required milestones to be hit….A bad deal for sure. In business it happens.
– The loss of clean energy jobs are a direct result of Trump not Cooper. Since conservatives don’t believe in science, they have withdrawn so much federal support for Green Energy and left it to China to dominate the future of a high growth market at the expense of American manufacturing yet again.
So sure, one bad deal. I notice you left out all the good from Cooper’s term:
– Over 640,000 jobs with NC ranked Top State for Business in both 2022 and 2023.
– Toyota, Apple, FUJUFILM Diosynth, Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, Wolfspeed, and Boom all made close to $30 billion in investments in NC during his term.
– Eliminated over $4 Billion in medical debt for NC citizens
– Substantial investment in Community Colleges helping over 22,500 students gain critical job skills to support the massive job growth in the state
– Unemployment below the national average
– GDP reached over 660 Billion making us the 11th largest state economy in the country
– Increased teacher pay by over 19% during his 8 years.
– Fixed the embarrassment of his predecessor’s silly bathroom bill to rebuild critical relationships with organizations and had pulled out of the State.
So, with all that success, yes, he had one failure with Vinfast but the overall net impact of his term was a tremendous gain for NC. I will be glad to see him take that success to the federal government as we recover from the disaster being created by Trump’s reckless approach to running the country.
Cheers.
I wouldn’t include Boom in your list of accomplishments. Other than a building that’s sat empty for over a year, I’m not sure what investment they’ve made.
Fair but still holding out hope they get their act together but agree, it doesn’t look positive.
how much did gambling operations ‘invest’ during his term ? how much did they ‘extract’ from N Carolinians while leading state politics (politicians). did NC sheep get sheared often & well ? does our ‘maJority’ make < $12/hr ?
I personally won’t trust the judgement of a guy that put a convicted child molester into a political leadership role.
But you be you
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Got that from the Cooper TV Commercial did ya?
You just regurgitate the Democrat Party line, even if it means parroting their commercials.
You’re pathetic. Try getting an original thought… for once.
Truth is the Truth.
Cheers
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Sheep !
I personally don’t trust the judgement of a guy with 5 or more screen names, supports ILLEGALS, is ok with transgenders and gay pride parade in Greensboro. Especially when he doesn’t like people like Alan, Austin, Patrick and all of us beer drinking, moonshine swilling, gun loving, pickup driving
Rednecks. But you be you
i like ‘goof’ parades because i know they r all concentrated in one area i can easily avoid & now they r less concentrated where i’m at. many ‘goof’ activities have the added benefit of ‘thinning the herd’
Agreed! Or provides false campaign ads AND is a puppet to Trump.
this independent voter would have voted for cooper if he had benefited most NCians by raising the minimum wage
Legislatures raise the minimum wage not the Governor. Republicans absolutely controlled the Legislature during Cooper’s time as Governor and were loathe to raise the minimum wage. Cooper could do nothing in that regard.
gridlock politics as usual. if repubs raise our minimum wage they might win the next election with that GAMBIT alone ! bet me we will NEVER see it on any ballot in NC because $$ bag EMPLOYERS own every politician in this state !
Not up to the Government to set wages for private companies. Another commie spewing idiot ideas.
Cool, another guy that doesnt know what communism is so just uses the word as a childish slur.
*
Exactly! This is the USA not the USSR.
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Markl, Markl, Markl…. Productivity, and therefore remuneration, cannot be determined by political diktat.
because an individual cannot ‘produce’ all their needs we must ‘trade’. ‘trading’ is a form of ‘political diktat’ & requires a contract (agreement). successfully trading is a ‘political’ process with the best ‘diplomats’ acquiring the most ‘products’ of ‘productivity. i like capitalism because it makes big ideas real & the movement of $ is a virtual loop where consumers ‘vote’ with their purchases.
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Where does one begin… ?
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Whatley is a hopeless candidate. Utterly clueless… and destined to sink without trace.
Whatley just talks in generalities about a Republican agenda. He says he supports the Republican agenda, but he does not give any specific ideas or plans on how he would help accomplish the agenda. His plan is to follow whatever Trump says he should do. Both he and Cooper should at least have some ideas in their heads on how they plan to accomplish the tasks at hand. In other words, they should be willing to cross the aisle to talk and develop real plans to help our citizens. Instead, they are entrenched in their parties mantras and not the citizens interest. What we see in Washington is the “New Civil War.” It is no longer the North vs the South. The new war is a national war of Republicans vs Democrats without regard to the people who sent them to Washington to handle the people’s business. The current situation is no better than rival football teams fighting it out on the gridiron.
The ads I have seen from Cooper focus on his plans for making life more affordable for working class Americans. Most of the ads that focus on Watley and his pedo friend are from super pacs which should be outlawed.
Name one time in history of the USA has a Democrat ever done anything good for the American citizens? Open borders,light on crime, high taxes,letting boys in girls sports,letting thugs out of prison so they can kill again commit more crimes. Obama care if one didnt have insurance you had to pay a fine. Democrats hate everything American.
Cooper is piece of garbage.
Whatley not much better.
Whatley = lawyer, GOP political operative/oil lobbyist, Trump’s second pick to Lara Trump, Trump rubber stamp Republican, sticky accusations of hiring child molester at a time when the Trump DOJ just refused to cooperate with European nations investigating Jeffrey Epstein.
Cooper = lawyer, resembles Andy Griffith in appearance and mannerisms, household name in NC politics, smart enough to refuse Kamala Harris’s invite to be VP candidate, saying, “It’s not North Carolina’s time,” thus displaying humility while equating himself implicitly with the State itself, at the same time positioning himself as a centrist or moderate rather than a progressive California “brat.”
Whatley will have to pull all registered Republicans and the entire MAGA base in the state of NC because Independents and Democrats will never vote for him.
Evidence: i will not vote for him
I agree with Austin…
Former Governor Roy Cooper’s record raises a simple question: Why should North Carolinians trust him with a seat in the U.S. Senate when his record in North Carolina is filled with expensive promises, questionable decisions, and disappointing results?
Cooper was always eager to stand before the cameras and take credit for the jobs and investment supposedly coming to North Carolina. What he rarely emphasized was how much taxpayers were paying for those promises. And when companies failed to deliver, the cameras seemed to disappear.
The Raleigh News & Observer reports that two more corporate-welfare agreements are being canceled because promised jobs never materialized. Prescient, a construction technology company, failed to deliver the 200 jobs it had promised. Arch Capital had planned to add more than 300 jobs, but didn’t.
These aren’t isolated disappointments. Since the Job Development Investment Grant program began in 2002, roughly 50% to 60% of agreements have failed to meet their job-creation targets. If the government is going to gamble with taxpayer money, taxpayers have every right to ask: Where’s the return on the investment?
Then there is Apple. Cooper awarded the world’s second-largest company a record-breaking $845.8 million performance-based incentive package, tied to a promise of 3,000 high-paying jobs by 2025. Yet Apple’s hiring plans are reportedly in a “holding pattern.” That is a lot of taxpayer money to spend for a lot of uncertainty.
Energy policy offers another troubling example. A report presented by Governor Josh Stein’s Energy Policy Task Force found that North Carolina’s energy prices rose faster than those of any other state from 2017 through 2024—essentially Cooper’s entire tenure as governor.
And Duke Energy has long been a significant contributor to Cooper’s political campaigns. That doesn’t prove wrongdoing, but it certainly raises a legitimate question: Did Cooper’s political relationships influence his energy policies? North Carolinians deserve an answer.
Now Cooper is campaigning for the U.S. Senate, promising to “Make Stuff Cost Less.” But slogans are easy. Results are harder. As economist Thomas Sowell famously observed, “When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.”
Education is another glaring example. North Carolina’s public schools once ranked among the nation’s top 10 in academic effectiveness. Today, the state ranks around 21st, tied with Wisconsin and Idaho. COVID didn’t cause every problem facing our schools, but prolonged closures and disruptions unquestionably contributed to learning losses that continue to affect North Carolina students.
According to Dr. Anthony Fauci’s private diary, Cooper spoke with Fauci on June 29, 2020, about reopening schools. Fauci recommended delaying reopening, and Cooper followed that advice.
In early 2021, the General Assembly made multiple attempts to force schools to reopen for full-time, in-person instruction. Cooper vetoed multiple reopening bills.
The consequences are not theoretical. The state’s Department of Public Instruction has continued to document significant learning losses.
Then there’s government competence.
More than $800 million in fraudulent and improper unemployment claims occurred under Cooper’s watch. His administration also pursued Medicaid expansion for years, even as concerns about improper and fraudulent claims persisted.
And now North Carolina has become a focus of federal scrutiny over CDL training and licensing. The NC DMV acknowledged that some applicants had been incorrectly identified in its system as U.S. citizens. Lawmakers sought additional verification of citizenship and immigration status. Cooper vetoed the legislation in 2019, arguing existing safeguards were sufficient.
Expensive incentives. Missed job targets. Rising energy costs. Educational setbacks. Massive improper unemployment payments. Controversial policy decisions. And time after time, taxpayers were left to pick up the tab.
Cooper’s Senate campaign would like voters to focus on what he says he will do. North Carolinians should focus instead on what he already did.
Political slogans don’t erase a record. And before Roy Cooper asks North Carolina voters to send him to Washington to make America better, perhaps he should first explain why his record suggests he couldn’t get North Carolina where it needed to go.
North Carolina deserves more than promises. It deserves results.
Right, if the companies don’t deliver, the State doesn’t pay all promised fund. This is standard practice in both Red and Blue states.
Fact checking your claims
– No incentives were paid out in Prescient or the Arch Capital deals as they failed to meet any of the criteria before they canceled the agreements. Sounds like they were well structured deals that avoided risk for NC tax payers.
– With Apple, which has created 600 of the promised 3000 jobs (which are still expected but delayed)…..it is false that Apple is on hold, it has been extended by 4 years. It is also false that 845 million has been paid to Apple. that is the max that COULD be paid out over 39 years if they meet all goals.
– Rising energy costs are NOT a result of Cooper policies….it is a result of rising fuel prices (guess who is behind that issue in our country). See NC task force analysis on impact of volatility in natural-gas prices.
– NC schools ranking falling from 10 to 21st come from an analysis using adjusted 2024 NAEP scores, it is not a general consensus school ranking. Before Cooper took office, NC ranked 37th overall, 33rd in k-12 achievement, 32nd in Chance for success and 42nd in school finance. After Cooper, we improved to 35th overall.
– Cooper delayed school opening by 2 weeks after speaking with Fauci. 2 weeks. Big whoop.
– The Bill Cooper vetoed to reopen schools was SB 37, which was superseded by Legislation Cooper signed SB 220 that met all the terms for in person teaching.
– The $800 million in not accurate. The actual figure in improper payments was around $350 million and most were administrative errors from the sheer mass of unemployment as a result of covid ….. not fraud.
– The veto of 2019 legislation was not about CDL citizenship verification….it was about redirecting local law enforcement to support ICE when most local law enforcement was already understaffed….like in GC.
– Yes Cooper pursued Medicaid expansion – but it is a lie that medicaid is racked with fraud……
Since you seem most upset about JDIG agreements: out of 449 JDIG agreements:
– 177 remain active
– 50 completed successfully
– 103 were terminated with some fund distributed
– 103 were terminated with no funds disbursed
– 16 were withdrawn
If you ignore those that canceled or were terminated prior to any cost, the actual success rate for programs receiving funds is ~70%
See my other posts on the broad success of Coopers Term.
I’m just quoting Governor Stein on Cooper’s energy prices from 2017 through 2024. If you disagree, take it up with Stein.
No Medicaid fraud in NC, eh, Chris.
A recent $12.7 million kickback scheme involved a substance abuse and drug screening operation in Kinston and Goldsboro.
Four NC individuals who operated Life Touch LLC and First Choice Healthcare Services were sentenced to federal prison time and ordered to pay over $15 million in restitution to Medicaid.
A Charlotte woman was sentenced to 48 months in prison and ordered to pay over $1.6 million in restitution for submitting nearly $2 million in fraudulent Medicaid claims.
Didn’t say no fraud. Just that it isn’t racked with fraud as you claim. The actual fraud rate is below 2%. There are other issues with improper payments of 4%. Oh, and they caught those frauds with internal controls. The bigger issue is improper payments due to paperwork mistakes, etc…
Hope that helps.
Has everyone forgotten that Roy Cooper vetoed the Voter ID bill , not just once, but several times? Republican and some Dems in State Senate finally passed it over his veto.
That should tell everyone very clearly that Roy Cooper puts illegals ahead of hardworking Americans.
No, it says that Cooper wants to see proof that new requirements are needed before adding barriers to voting (even if small) which no conservative has ever done.
Hope that helps.
Aw come on professor are you saying proving citizenship is a barrier to voting? Well I reckon it is if you’re not a citizen.
yes, this is well documented especially for women who were married many years ago and no longer have certified name change paperwork on hand.
It is a tired argument. Here is a link to a source that will walk you through it but I doubt you really care as I find most conservatives who deny this feel fine since it isn’t a problem for them personally.
Cheers
https://bipartisanpolicy.org/article/five-things-to-know-about-the-save-act/
Nope professor that doesn’t wash. Everybody born in the US in the past at least 75 years has a birth certificate. Naturalized citizens have documents also. All marriage certificates can be obtained through the county you were married in. You just want folks to be able to pinky promise they are citizens when proof cannot be obtained because it doesn’t exist.
Just an excuse for his veto. Cooper would not have signed if Jesus himself made guarantees.
“As for Whatley’s declaration that Cooper was the “worst governor in the history of North Carolina,” that one may be a little hard to justify.” No doubt the extremism of Whatley’s assertion was intended to demonstrate the depth of his own sycophancy to his master, “The one greatest President ever in the history of the United States”.
Well, it depends on how much you like snakes. Personally, I do not want another one in Congress, hence my vote for Whatley. Why would anyone who voted for Trump would then vote for Cooper. Say it isn’t so. Cooper is not deserving of your vote.
Whatley was a lobbyest for big oil…..oh he is a snake alright. With a forked tongue.
But you be you
The primary reason to vote for Whatley, he is not a Democrat. I am in favor of Andy Griffith, the character; a lot to admire in the portrayal. But Cooper is no Andy Griffith. He tries to be folksy, but that demeaner hides a cunning, politically ambitious politician.
Blacks will vote for Cooper along with White misguided women. If there is any group that has mutated into an almost unrecognizable being, it is White women. So, that leaves everyone else to vote for Whatley.
Cooper is a dyed-in -the-wool Democrat. That alone disqualifies him from office. I did not care for Tillis; I am glad to see him gone. But our nation needs a congress that will work with Trump, not some mealy-mouth politician that has an affinity for criminals and the NAACP that supports them. Don’t be fooled by deception.
Vote for Whatley!
So you vote based on identity politics. I notice you don’t promote anything that Whatley would actually do for us while in office.
I can’t imagine anyone voting for Whatley after his assignment of ‘recovery czar’ by Trump for Western Carolina yet most mayors say they have never heard from him to discuss their needs or had any visits to understand the work that still needs to be done given the lack of federal support for the State. He is just a power grab guy that is in politics for himself.
Vote Cooper. He actually cares about what matters to us in NC. Affordability, Ending Wars, Housing, and Economic Growth. Conservatives can’t run on improving affordability given how they have ignored this issue as they war monger with the middle east yet again.
Cheers
trumps’ work is toxic/defective & enabled by republikratz. cooper managed our guvmnt thru plague & hurricane successfully/expertly
So you have a former Democratic governor, who despite what some may say, is actually very politically moderate. He has also enjoyed broad support across the state for twenty years. Then on the other side you have an inside political operator who is unknown to the voting public. His main qualification seems to be a lack of a paper trail. And this comes after chasing off a popular “RINO” who would have easily cruised to re-election. Good job MAGA.
Whatley is a fricken clown. Has no originsagenda or platform other than MAGA. All Whatley has is lies. Vote Cooper.
Mr. Stone, what do you have? Do your credentials come close to Mr. Whatley’s credentials? You are the judge. Mr. Whatley earned a bachelor’s degree; two master’s degrees, one in theology from Notre Dame, and a law degree from Notre Dame. I certainly would not describe Michael Whatley as a clown.
He is not a politician in the mold of Roy Cooper. Who would like that? According to Webster: “theology is the study of religious faith, practice, and experience, especially: the study of God and of God’s relation to the world.” That sounds so much more uplifting, and someone you can have faith to help lead our country rather than a 40-year politician.
I will hitch my wagon with Michael Whatley, and so should you.
I’m pretty apathetic about politicians and the upcoming election. I’d never vote for Cooper, he is too anti-American, supporting abortion and gun control, for me to ever consider voting for him. Whatley was not my pick in the primaries and was last on my list. I see Trump trying hard and failing, due to poor quality Legislative and Judicial Branches. Few people nowadays want to make America bow to Jesus, be fiscally sound, and provide true freedom to its citizens. March 28, 1991 was the last time Congress passed a resolution for prayer. Another example was April 14, 1970 for Apollo 13 after the oxygen tank explosion. We don’t get that from our Congress today, do we? I am praying for a spiritual revival in America first. And a resulting fiscal restoration second.
Claiming someone is anti-American because they have different views than you is the most un-American thing you can say.
But you be you
Well, welcoming commies into the Democrat party is a sign that he is okay with the fox in the hen house.
Well…..saying you want to “make Americans bow to Jesus” is rather un-American given the country was founded on the idea of freedom of religion. And I say that as a faithful Christian myself.
But you be you.
Cooper is a loyal, unquestioning member of the Democratic Party who rigidly follows and enforces his leaders’ orders. Coop has never been a leader.
If you vote for Coop, you’re voting for: packing the Supreme Court, fraudulent elections, amnesty for illegals, higher taxes, unlimited abortion.
Who do you consider Coop’s leader? Weird.
He didn’t support Biden on all topics by any means. The biggest thing he was against was the Green New Deal.
Lying about democrats wanting fraudulent elections, amnesty for illegals, higher taxes and unlimited abortion is all you got? Guess you can’t promote conservatives on the economy since they are in power and screwing that up royally already so you have to make up lies to create fear when none is warranted.
A vote for republicans is a vote for more wars, higher prices, higher interest rates, slower job growth, weaker trade relations, weaker foreign alliances, more federal debt, and less individual rights. We know this because this is what we are getting under conservative republican leadership today!
Vote for change! Fair taxes! Improved Foreign Relations! Investment in Innovation! Investment in education! Lower Prices! VOTE DEMOCRAT!! Republicans had their chance and blew it.
Cheers
You got that right!
There is no doubt that Whatley could ratch it up a notch or two, and he should. But that’s because he is not a dyed-in-the-wool politician like Cooper. Cooper has been in politics for nearly 40 years, which translates, based on Cooper’s age of 69, entered politics at about age 29. Think about it, the primary means of providing support for his family was politics. There is something really sleazy about that.
Here are your choices: Roy Cooper, a clever, conniving, apparently lazy (how hard is it to serve in NC politics for 40 years,) and, if elected, will work with other Democrats to impede and shutdown the federal government while still suckling the government.
Your other choice is Michael Whatley, former Chairman of the Republican Party, which is more of an administrative position. He received a Master’s degree in theology, which suggests he can decipher moral behavior, which is important in decision making. And this may explain his approach to running against Roy Cooper, a lifelong politician. Like Cooper, he is a lawyer, so he will understand legislation. He served in the Bush administration. I feel comfortable voting for Whatley, unlike Roy Cooper, and you should too.
To understand that Cooper is a diehard politician, listen to his own words, saying that the Democrat party should include avowed socialists:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/undercover-video-exposes-dem-senate-nominees-plan-embrace-socialists-got-to-be-together
If you love the United States, your choice is clear, cast your vote for Michael Whatley.
What are you talking about? Whatley has been directly involved in politics for over 40 years. He is a lifelong political figure of the worst kind.
Moral behavior?!?!?! He promoted a child molester to a senior role in the GOP? He has close ties to Mark Robinson to transexual porn junky who embarrassed the State trying to run for Governor.
Whatley is a Trump ring kisser and we have all seen the negative impact of Trump’ tariffs, wars, and spending sprees have cost the average American with failed farms, rising food prices, increased gas prices, increased interest rates, higher inflation, weakened value of the dollar, weakened bond markets, record national debt, lost relations with key strategic foreign allies (includes our closest neighbors), etc… etc… etc…
The conservative agenda has failed the American people spectacularly. It is time to put some balance back into place against the failed Trump agenda. Vote Cooper.
Cheers
The “molester” was a 28-year-old police officer at the time. The original charge was in 1999, almost 30 years ago. The charge was statutory, not forcible rape; there is a significant difference and any male reading this knows the difference. How long does someone have to pay for their mistake and lack of judgement?
If the names in the Epstein files were released, I think we would all be taken aback by the many Democrats on the list. Trump isn’t trying to protect Republicans; he is responding to Democrat doners and politicians. And these Epstein offenders traveled with Epstein over and over.
Yes, Whatley is a Trump supporter, nothing wrong with that. Cooper would be kissing the ring of Schumer. That’s the way our party system works.
The absolute worst mistake Trump made was getting involved in Israel’s war with Iran. There is much blame to go around. But I blame the Jews Trump has surrounding himself with, especially his son-in-law who speaks fluent Hebrew, and attended the Jewish School for Jewish Studies when he was a young man. Trump needs to get out of the war and let Israel do what they need to do as a sovereign country. He can do it today, tomorrow, but the sooner the better.
But Trump’s mistake has nothing to do with Whatley. Whatley will be in the Senate and concentrating on domestic issues like Save America Act.
Cast your vote for Michael Whatley.
I will listen to your fear of socialism when you disavow the value of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. I will listen to your fear of socialism when you claim farmers should all fail and go bankrupt when the government tanks trade relations and runs up fuel prices, so it is impossible to farm profitably. Do that and I will listen to your fake fear of socialists that are a very small minority of people on the left.
Social Democracy is NOT the same as being a socialist as so many conservatives claim. But you be you.
Cheers.
Oh, my, Democrats are unbelievably good with words and labels. My hat is off to you. Democrats are now adopting the Social Democracy moniker. Why? Because the camel-nosed socialists are already in your party and the old guard is trying to figure out what to do.
Disavow Social Security? A program started in the 1930s that requires employees to contribute their own money into an account that just sits there? And a program that forces employers to pay into the same program while the government contributes nothing but controls the program and every now and then pronounces that SS is going broke in the near future? The program that was meant for older (65+) Americans. The program that now includes everyone and anyone who can claim disability, regardless of age? That program?
Medicare and Medicaid are rife with fraud. As with SS, all those “disabled” young people receive Medicare.
An interesting exercise would be to calculate what SS and Medicare may payout annually if the only recipients were the people the programs were originally designed to support.
Government knows it has created a monster. The government cannot eliminate the programs it has created; or reduce them. Why? Because the programs keep the little people inline, holding back a revolution. Don’t think the government hasn’t talked about the possibility.
I think his moral behavior decoder ring is broken if he’s supporting a thrice married , porn-star/playmate loving philanderer .
Trump had this reputation the last time he ran. It didn’t prevent him from being elected. Humans cannot be angels. In Christianity, the question is has Trump repented for any sins he may have committed?
I suspect lower testosterone levels has greatly reduced any philandering from many years ago. Testosterone levels have from time-to-time influenced behavior in the White House; just ask Bill Clinton, a Democrat.
Here are the folks that Cooper supports:
New York City Mayor Mandami is a radical Muslim associated with the democratic-socialist movement that has sharply criticized traditional policing and law enforcement’s role.
In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, who is running for office, promotes positive views on Sharia and Islam.
Political commentator Hasan Piker has likewise generated controversy over rhetoric concerning Israel and his hatred for American Jews.
Representative Ilhan Omar’s characterization of the September 11 attacks as “some people did something.”
But if you believe America has a right to secure its borders, enforce its laws, deport people who are here illegally when the law requires it, remove violent criminals who have no legal right to remain, and protect Americans from terrorism and political violence, say so with a NO vote for Cooper.
Whatley delivered a keynote address on September 9, on the first night of “Trumpapalooza, the first ever RNC Midterm Convention in Dallas.
The Charlotte Observer wrote:
“In an uninspiring and fairly brief speech, Whatley defended some of Trump’s economic policies and outlined why Cooper is the “worst governor in the history of North Carolina.” He repeated the egregious and blatantly false claim that Cooper is responsible for the death of Iryna Zarutska, who was killed on Charlotte’s light rail last year.”
Trumpapalooza was planned to serve two purposes in an attempt to save Republicans in the midterms. It allowed Trump to do his tiresome “rally thing” while keeping him out of the states of vulnerable candidates with constituents who register approval ratings of 39% or less, of which there are many. Second, it provides a forum for the total losers of the GOP, like Whatley, to kiss up for the President’s support in a pathetic attempt to shore up the base.
In conclusion, it’s pretty obvious Whatley is already toast, and the RNC’s money would be better spent elsewhere. “The worst Governor ever” is too Trumpy for NC. Maybe they should use the slogan “where’s the beef” in Iowa and South Dakota. We’ll all be asking that ourselves when the imported beef from Trump dropping beef tariffs shows up in the grocer’s freezer. Nothing like an inch thick ribeye that’s been frozen in Argentina for the past two years. The Trump Administration has ginned up a lot of bad mojo everywhere in terms of the economy! And then there’s Iran and $6 diesel fuel. The list goes on and on.
Trump touts “America First,” but there appear to be exceptions—particularly when it comes to the cattle industry. Trump authorized 300,000 metric tons of beef imports from foreign countries.
Government intervention in a market dominated by independent producers and setting prices raises legitimate questions.
Trump announced he intended to make it easier for ranchers to process their own meat, reducing their reliance on meatpacking corporations and easing certain federal requirements.
Most cattle ranchers don’t own the industrial equipment necessary to slaughter, process, and package beef on a commercial scale.