GREENVILLE, North Carolina — President Donald Trump unveiled new economic incentives to help bolster Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley‘s campaign against Democrat Roy Cooper on Tuesday evening, even as Republican PACs have quietly pulled funding from the race.
At the Pitt-Greenville Airport, Trump, along with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, announced two semiconductor production efforts in the Tar Heel State. The effort is meant to bring new jobs and millions of dollars to the state as the GOP seeks to keep control of both chambers in the midterm elections next month.
The state’s Senate race is one of the key races that will decide which party controls the upper chamber. This is Trump’s second visit to North Carolina in 30 days as he crisscrosses the nation to help the GOP, which has now been forced to defend races in red states that Trump won during his 2024 campaign.
Trump slammed Cooper as too radical and “pro-crime” for North Carolina, while Whatley would protect the state from criminals.
“Roy Cooper is a disgrace to this state,” Trump told a packed crowd of more than 1,000 people. “He betrayed his highest and most sacred duty as your governor to keep North Carolina safe.”
The president’s repeated attacks on Cooper’s handling of crime while serving as governor in the state, particularly the release of prisoners during the COVID-19 pandemic, have not blunted his lead against Whatley.
Trump also teased returning to North Carolina, a subtle signal that the president is going all out to help Whatley. “I think I’m even scheduled to come back here in another week,” Trump said to the delight of the crowd.
Although many Republicans in the state told the Washington Examiner they support Whatley, the GOP is privately conceding the race may already be lost.
Todd Williamson, 72, a retiree from Washington, North Carolina, told the Washington Examiner that he hoped Trump’s visit would help the GOP “kick the Democrats’ ass.”
Williamson said he already voted for Whatley, but he didn’t “see how Trump’s visit can’t help but increase turnout” for the GOP.
But the reality is Democrats are on the cusp of flipping the House due to anger over the Iran war, high cost of living, and Trump’s record-low approval ratings. The GOP is now defending Senate seats in red states that Trump easily won in 2024.
A new Elon University poll showed Cooper leading Whatley by double digits, 52% to 39%, in the latest sign that Democrats are poised to flip outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis’s (R-NC) seat. A RealClearPolitics polling average shows Cooper leading Whatley by nearly 10 percentage points.
Tillis recently told Politico he expects the GOP to suffer severe losses this cycle and lamented Whatley’s connection to Trump, who is facing record-low approval ratings.
“I think Michael’s problem is he’s got a patently partisan resume, right? I mean, he was a lobbyist, but then he was the state party chair, did a fairly good job there, and then the RNC chair,” said Tillis. “You know, in a cycle where we knew we were gonna have headwinds for the Republican Party, putting somebody forth like that just creates a deeper, a steeper hill for them to climb.”
Cooper heads into the final weeks of the midterm cycle having raised more than $19.5 million in the third quarter, according to the latest Federal Election Commission report. Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chairman, pulled in just $2.1 million.
A GOP super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, canceled its remaining ad spending in North Carolina to shift resources to Kansas, a sign that Whatley’s campaign has lost momentum.
Trump appeared with Whatley, just one day after Vice President JD Vance also appeared in Hendersonville, North Carolina, to boost Whatley and other vulnerable Republicans in the state. Their visits are meant to boost GOP improvement as early-voting figures show Democrats at an advantage.
But Republican voters sounded optimistic that Whatley could prevail in the end.
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Michelle English, 54, a former mail carrier from Greenville, said, “I don’t know a lot about him,” but since he has Trump’s support, “I’m going to vote for him.”
Krista Harrison, 54, a retiree from Greene County and first-time volunteer, said Whatley can still win “if the turnout is good.”