Trump Rallies for Whatley in North Carolina Senate Race

President Donald Trump held a rally Wednesday at Gastonia Municipal Airport to support Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley, his former Republican National Committee chair, in the race for the seat vacated by retiring Sen. Thom Tillis. Whatley faces former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who leads in recent polling.

Multiple surveys show Cooper ahead by margins ranging from a slight edge to 11 percentage points, with an Elon University poll in late August showing Cooper leading 49% to 38% among likely voters. Democrats have not won a Senate race in North Carolina since 2008, though Trump has carried the state three times.

“We won those record-setting victories with the help of a man named Michael Whatley. He was incredible. Nobody better in the whole country. I had my choice of the whole country. I chose Michael Whatley.”

At the rally, many Republican attendees did not recognize Whatley despite his residency in Gastonia. Several voters told reporters they had never heard of the candidate or knew too little to form an opinion, creating a name-recognition challenge six weeks before the midterms.

Trump praised Whatley as "incredible" and credited him with past Republican victories in the state, while attacking Cooper on crime and the response to Hurricane Helene. The president also invoked the 1988 Willie Horton ad to argue Democrats are soft on crime, comparing it to a recent Charlotte murder case.

Republican pollster Paul Shumaker noted Trump could energize the base, but registered Democrats and Republicans are split evenly while independents outnumber both. Cooper acknowledged the difficult map but said the race is tightening as expected.