Former President Donald Trump rallied supporters in Gastonia on Wednesday evening in support of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley, using the event to criticize Democratic candidate Roy Cooper and promote key Republican campaign themes.
Trump attacked Cooper, the former North Carolina governor, on familiar issues, including transgender athletes participating in sports. He also focused heavily on crime, arguing Democratic leadership has made communities less safe.
“For years, pro-crime politicians like Roy Cooper have tried to bully you into silence while they turned your cities into blood-soaked killing fields,” Trump told supporters.
Whatley continued to criticize his opponent for a COVID-era deal that saw 3,500 people released from prisons to relieve overcrowding. Whatley incorrectly said DeCarlos Brown Junior, charged with killing Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte's light rail line, was released as part of that deal.
Trump echoed the claim during his remarks:
"The animal who murdered Irena Zarutska should never have been on your streets after 14 arrests," Trump said. "He should have been locked up for many, many years. But Roy Cooper released him."
In fact, Brown was released five months before that settlement, after serving his mandatory minimum sentence on a prior charge.
But the message still resonated with Trump supporters. Gaston County resident Abraham Lawrence, 59, said he liked Whatley’s stance on crime.
"North Carolina has become such a dangerous place. I moved here from New York 25 years ago, and it’s totally different now," Lawrence said.
Trump is seeking to help Whatley close a significant gap in the race ahead of the November election. Cooper has maintained a consistent lead in public polling throughout the campaign. An Elon University poll released last week showed Cooper leading Whatley by 11 percentage points.
Trump also highlighted the killing last year of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte's light rail system.
“When she got on that train, she was petrified to be on that train,” Trump said. “She just wanted to hide. She was more scared being on that train in North Carolina than she was being in Ukraine with all the missiles and bombs.”
The Cooper campaign has said it is focused on affordability issues while criticizing Whatley for appointing a convicted sex offender to party committees during his tenure as chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party.
Whatley, meanwhile, spent much of his speech praising Trump and emphasizing their political partnership.
“I am excited about fighting for North Carolina, for every family, for every community, and fighting alongside the greatest president of our lifetime, Donald J. Trump,” Whatley said.
Trump also pointed to the passage of the Lumbee Fairness Act last year, which granted federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe after decades of advocacy, as a reason for voters to support him and Whatley.
“So the Lumbees, I know you've got a lot of Lumbees here,” Trump told the crowd. “I like the Lumbees, actually. But you've got to vote for Michael Whatley.”
