Trump Attacks Roy Cooper Over Alleged Prisoner Releases
Calling Roy Cooper a "TOTAL FRAUD," Trump attacked the former North Carolina governor over prisoner releases and tied the issue to the state's U.S. Senate race, backing Republican Michael Whatley. He said Cooper's decisions led to violent crimes and invoked the Willie Horton episode from the 1988 campaign as a warning about criminal justice politics. Trump also framed the posts as a direct appeal to North Carolina voters, casting the contest as a test of public safety and party control.
North Carolina Prisoner Release Attack and Senate Endorsement
Campaign / LegalTrump accused former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper of releasing violent offenders from prison during the COVID-19 era and said those decisions had led to further murders. He used the attack to promote Republican Michael Whatley for the U.S. Senate, arguing that Cooper was unfit for public office.
This is a classic Trump crime-and-punishment message designed to fuse public safety outrage with electoral politics. By tying Cooper to the Willie Horton precedent, Trump is deliberately reaching for one of the most infamous attack lines in modern campaign history, signaling that he wants the North Carolina Senate race fought on fear, punishment, and partisan contrast rather than policy details. The focus on a former governor also broadens the target beyond a single candidate and reinforces a familiar Trump theme: that Democrats are soft on crime and morally responsible for violent outcomes. The endorsement of Whatley is not just an election plug; it places Trump firmly at the center of the state race and tries to define the Republican nominee as the law-and-order alternative.
"What Former Governor Roy Cooper did is, believe it or not, far more consequential."
"NORTH CAROLINA, VOTE FOR MICHAEL WHATLEY. HE HAS MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES SENATE, AND WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!"