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Trump, Vance Rally for Whatley in North Carolina Senate Race
Confirmed
In Short: During the rally, Whatley invoked the memory of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was murdered by Decarlos Brown Jr., one of the inmates released by Cooper.
President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance campaigned for Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley in North Carolina, where Whatley is running against former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper.
Vance defended President Trump's decision to ban three media outlets—Politico, CNN, and MS Now—from the White House, arguing that these outlets were overwhelmingly negative in their coverage of the administration.
Whatley, who previously served as the chairman of the Republican National Committee, claimed in a July 2025 interview that grocery, gasoline, and housing prices were down, a statement that Factcheck.org later deemed incorrect based on current metrics.
During the rally, Whatley invoked the memory of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was murdered by Decarlos Brown Jr., one of the inmates released by Cooper.
Whatley's campaign said the candidate did not know the pastor who delivered the opening prayer at a recent event, nor was the event planned by the Whatley campaign.
Vance pushed back against accusations that Trump's media bans violated free speech, arguing that the banned outlets were overwhelmingly negative in their coverage.
Whatley's campaign is facing a tough race, with polls showing him trailing Cooper.
Trump urged voters to 'pretend' he was on the ballot while rallying for Whatley, emphasizing the need to vote for him to protect and defend children.
Vance and Trump's support for Whatley comes as the Republican candidate trails in polls, with the general election set for November 3, 2026.
What this adds
Vance's defense of Trump's media bans and his campaign efforts for Whatley highlight the administration's stance on media coverage.
Factcheck.org noted that Whatley's statements about price decreases were made in July 2025, before current metrics showed otherwise.
Background
North Carolina is a state in the Southeastern and South Atlantic regions of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia to the southwest, and Tennessee to the west.
What's confirmed
- Whatley, the former Republican National Committee chairman, is running against former Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper in the U.S. Senate race on Nov. 3, 2026.
- OAN Staff Addie Davis 8:14 AM – Thursday, September 17, 2026 President Donald Trump delivered remarks in Gastonia, North Carolina, in support of Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley.
What's still developing
- President Trump did endorse Whatley in the state’s primary election earlier this year.
- As we wrote around the time Whatley made his comment in July 2025, there were some exceptions to the overall rising prices.
- Judged by today’s metrics, Whatley’s statements are wrong.
- “Nobody used to think of North Carolina as a dangerous state,” he said.
- Right after taking office for his second term in January 2025, Trump received a call from Whatley asking for assistance after the storm, the president said.
- “Here we are 11 years later, and every single day Donald Trump is fighting to make America great. And I am still with that guy,” Whatley stated.
- “The golden age of America is upon us, but you must get out and vote, and vote for Michael Whatley and those two incredible potential congresspeople,” he said.
- “We’re talking the worst of the worst. We’re talking rapists. We’re talking pedophiles. We’re talking murderers out of North Carolina jails because he didn’t want them to get COVID,” Whatley said, noting that one of those criminals rose to the national spotlight after murdering Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska one year ago.
- “It was on a Friday night a year ago that she got off work. A beautiful young Ukrainian refugee got off work at 11 o’clock, working in a pizzeria, got on a Charlotte light rail car, and Decarlos Brown Jr. just absolutely brutally murdered her without any provocation,” Whatley said.
- Amid everything going on — Watergate would be a “12-hour news story” today, as JD Vance so memorably put it — it can feel like weak tea to talk about the vagaries of the Hatch Act, or norms of Justice Department independence.
- Vance disagreed with the premise that Trump’s actions were an attack on the First Amendment.
- “Now, why on God’s green earth would Donald Trump be expected to give Politico special access when nobody in the media expected the Biden administration or the Obama administration to give Breitbart special access?” Vance asked.