Vance attacks Cooper during NC campaign stop
U.S. Vice president JD Vance speaks during a rally on Monday at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro.
Republican candidate for U.S. senate Michael Whatley gives a thumbs-up as Vance recognizes him during a rally.
The crowd cheers as U.S. Vice president JD Vance speaks during the rally.
During a campaign stop in Greensboro on Monday, Vice President JD Vance cast the choice in this year's midterm elections as one between crazed leftists and conservatives willing to stand up to a far-left agenda.
Speaking before a crowd that numbered about 200 at the Koury Convention Center, Vance said voters should send a message to the Democratic Party, which he said has been overrun by radicals, by electing U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley and other Republicans.
"Do we want a man who will stand up fearlessly to these lunatics or do we want one of these lunatics who pretends to be a moderate?" Vance said.
The vice president said Cooper is the embodiment of "that establishment that has surrendered to the radicals."
"For eight years, Gov. Roy Cooper had left-wing activists in his ear screaming at him to do their bidding and each time they shrieked, each time they threatened, each time they demanded that Roy Cooper bend the knee, do you know what he did? He obeyed them."
The vice president pointed to crime as the area "where (Cooper's) record is worst."
Vance referred to the release of inmates under a 2021 settlement the state agreed in response to a lawsuit over conditions in prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whatley's campaign and independent conservative groups have made the prisoner release and reports of inmates reoffending a centerpiece of their attacks on Cooper.
Independent fact-checkers have found many of the claims made about the prison releases to be false or misleading.
One ad referred to a murder case in South Carolina. In another, the father of a murder victim said he was deceived into filming an anti-Cooper ad when he thought he was filming an ad against gun violence.
Ronald Hayes, the man featured in the ad, said he intends to vote for Cooper.
Cooper's campaign defended the prisoner release in a page on its website, saying the settlement was made in response to the lawsuit's likelihood of success and the potential for 18,000 people being released as opposed to the 3,500 who were ultimately freed.
Vance said the settlement showed a greater value for prisoners than for law-abiding residents in the state.
"I don't know why Roy Cooper prioritized the safety of prisoners over the citizens of this great state," Vance said. "What he should have done is keep those prisoners in jail and kept the people on the outside of the prison safe."
Whatley, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and the N.C. Republican Party, touched on many of those same themes in his own remarks.
He called Cooper the "worst governor in the history of North Carolina."
Whatley criticized Cooper over a range of issues, from restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic to vetoes of bills concerning transgender athletes in school sports.
"This is a man who has stood with the radical agenda, the extremist agenda every single day of his life," Whatley said. "This man campaigns as a moderate and rules as a liberal – a radical, extreme liberal." Whatley said he was running to promote conservative values and prosperity for people in North Carolina.
"I am running for Senate because I want every one of your kids and every one of your grandkids to have the same opportunity to live the American dream right here in North Carolina," he said.
Other speakers at the event included Sen. Ted Budd and the three Congressional representatives from the Triad — Reps. Addison McDowell, Virginia Foxx and Richard Hudson.
As Vance concluded his remarks, he acknowledged undecided voters as well as past Trump and Republican voters who may be uneasy with some of the administration's actions.
"My message to anyone who is still making up their minds is very simple: If you're unhappy with the pace of progress, don't hand power back to Democrats who drove our country into the ground in the first place," Vance said. "The choice that we're facing is stark. It is common sense versus craziness."
Vance's appearance marks the second high-profile show of support Whatley has received from the Trump administration in less than a week. President Donald Trump campaigned with Whatley in Gastonia last week.
Whatley has consistently trailed Cooper in polling. A recent Carolina Journal poll had Cooper leading Whatley by 15 points — 49% to 34%.
