GASTONIA, North Carolina — President Donald Trump is testing his midterm campaign appeal Wednesday in North Carolina with a rally for Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley as the former national party chairman tries to shore up his campaign against Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper.
Despite his own lagging popularity, Trump insists he can help Whatley, who is fully embracing the president in the key battleground state even as he tries to attract moderates and even Republicans unhappy with the president's leadership.
“I am honored that we are going to have the greatest president of our lifetime, Donald J. Trump, here in Gaston County tonight,” Whatley said ahead of Trump's arrival at the rally. “And I am honored to take up this banner and fight for you.”
After arriving in North Carolina on Air Force One, Trump told reporters on an airport tarmac that Whatley will “bring us back to sanity,” an assessment the president made despite Republicans controlling the White House, House and Senate, including the seat Whatley and Cooper are seeking.
The trip marks Trump's first campaign rally since his unusual midterm convention in Dallas. The president, despite voter frustrations over the Iran war and his economic leadership, has promised dozens more trips ahead of Election Day. Trump's involvement creates a balancing act for Republicans like Whatley, who must maximize support from the president's core supporters without alienating other voters who've soured on the administration amid inflation and the Iran war.
Whatley was the president's pick for the Senate race and, before that, Trump's pick to lead the Republican National Committee. Republicans viewed him as a strong recruit to hold the seat being left open by Sen. Thom Tillis, who decided to retire after clashing with the president last year. But Whatley, who is making his first bid for public office, has trailed Cooper in fundraising in recent months and polling over the summer showed Cooper with at least a slight lead.
While praising Trump, Whatley tried to shift blame for voters' economic angst to Democrats, including Cooper.
“When it comes to our economy, and we talk about affordability, we talk about high prices, we talk about the ditch that Roy Cooper and Joe Biden put America in with the economy,” Whatley said.
Cooper and Biden left office almost 20 months ago.
Whatley needs more than Trump loyalists
Trump has acknowledged the challenging landscape but believes his presence will be a clear boost.
“In North Carolina, you have a little more difficult case, because people don’t quite get it, but they’re going to find out,” Trump said during his keynote speech in Dallas.
Attorney General Todd Blanche spoke at the rally, as well, underscoring the priority the White House places on helping Whatley. It’s the latest example of how Trump’s top law enforcement officer has broken with tradition by participating in partisan campaigning.
Democrats have not won a Senate contest in the state since 2008, and Trump has carried North Carolina three times since. The seat is critical to Democrats' effort to flip control of the Senate. Cooper was perhaps Democrats’ best recruit this cycle, having never lost a statewide race in North Carolina through four terms as attorney general and two terms as governor.
Republican pollster Paul Shumaker, who worked on Tillis’s and North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd’s campaigns, said Trump will energize Republicans who may not be as excited about the campaign as Democrats are. But he noted that registered Democrats and Republicans in North Carolina are split about evenly, while independent voters outnumber both. That cohort of more than 3.5 million voters, he said, is more concerned about the economy, an issue where Trump is weaker than he was in 2024, than with crime or immigration, issues where North Carolina Republicans might still have an advantage over Democrats.
“They see the White House more focused on everything but the economy,” Shumaker said. “So that narrative has to change to give them a path here in North Carolina.”
During a brief speech in Dallas, Whatley was more careful than he was in his Wednesday speech. At the convention, he praised Trump’s agenda, especially the tax cuts included in his “big beautiful bill” last year. But instead of lavishing praise on the president himself, he spent most of his time unloading on Cooper, calling him soft on crime and bad for North Carolinians’ wallets — messages that he amplified at Wednesday's rally.
Democrats focus on the economy and Whatley's problems
Cooper's campaign pushed back against Whatley's criticisms and noted that the Republican has faced scrutiny for recently having a convicted sex offender offer the opening prayer at one of his campaign events.
Whatley, meanwhile, is leaning heavily on Trump and national Republican donors to reach voters on TV and online. According to data from AdImpact, which tracks campaign advertising, total Republican spending on the contest has topped $50 million, while Democrats have spent almost $35.2 million, with Trump's MAGA Inc. and other conservative PACs accounting for the overall Republican advantage.
Cooper has no public events Wednesday, but the state Democratic Party sought to keep the spotlight on Trump, Whatley and inflation. In a morning news conference, speakers noted the Republican nominee's oil and gas investments as the energy sector amasses profits while the Iran war drives up fuel costs. Whatley's personal financial disclosures to the Senate show investments in ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and other energy firms. A former energy lobbyist, Whatley backs Trump's actions in Iran.
“Why would Whatley back a war that is driving up prices for North Carolina families at a time when it’s already too hard for us to get by?” asked state Sen. Woodson Bradley, D-Charlotte. “He’s already shown us everything we need to know.”
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Barrow reported from Atlanta. Price reported from Washington.
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