At a Gastonia rally, former President Donald Trump criticized former Gov. Roy Cooper while campaigning for Republican Michael Whatley, accusing Cooper of enabling crime and claiming he "let out 3,500 murderers" under a prison settlement. Independent fact-checks and Cooper’s campaign dispute the charge, and FBI 2024 data show several states with higher violent-crime rates than North Carolina. The article also covers a disputed claim about an alleged Charlotte stabbing suspect and contrasting assessments of Cooper’s response to Hurricane Helene.
Trump Criticizes Roy Cooper, Labels North Carolina ‘One Of The Worst’ During Fiery Gastonia Rally
Michael Whatley, the former chairman of the North Carolina GOP, is trying to keep the Senate seat in Republican hands. / Kevin Lamarque / REUTERS
Former President Donald Trump, 80, launched a blistering attack on North Carolina and former Gov. Roy Cooper during a campaign rally Wednesday in Gastonia, where he was campaigning for Republican Senate hopeful Michael Whatley.
Whatley, 57, a Michigan-born former RNC official and one-time chairman of the North Carolina GOP, is seeking to replace retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis. His Democratic opponent is Roy Cooper, 69, the state’s former governor, attorney general and state representative.
Accusations About Crime And Prison Releases
Trump accused Cooper of presiding over a rise in crime in North Carolina, calling him a "murderer protector" and saying the state had gone from "apple pie" to "one of the most violent and one of the worst in the whole nation."
He also claimed Cooper "let out 3,500 murderers and criminals," referencing a settlement Cooper approved as governor in response to a lawsuit by civil-rights groups about COVID-19 safety in state prisons. The settlement resulted in roughly 3,500 inmates being released early; plaintiffs had initially sought releases for about 18,000. Cooper opposed a broader release that might have occurred if the state had not settled.
Trump criticized Cooper on crime and hurricane response during his brief trip to North Carolina. / Kevin Lamarque / REUTERS
It is not clear how many, if any, of the roughly 3,500 released prisoners were convicted murderers. Independent fact-checkers have flagged some campaign ads on the topic as misleading, and a pro-Whatley Super PAC is running an ad that falsely implies an alleged murderer was among those freed under the settlement.
Context And Fact-Checks
FBI data from 2024 show higher violent-crime rates in multiple states, including Alaska, New Mexico, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, California, Nevada, Arizona, Montana, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Michigan, South Carolina, Maryland and New York, undercutting a blanket claim that North Carolina is among the very worst states on that metric.
When contacted by the Daily Beast, a Cooper campaign spokesperson pushed back at Trump and Whatley, saying:
"Independent fact-checkers have called these attacks false – Michael Whatley is getting desperate and it's shameful that he's using heinous crimes to try to deceive North Carolinians."The campaign also accused Whatley of associating with convicted predators and criticized federal pandemic-era prisoner moves supported by Trump.
Separately, the Bureau of Prisons reported in 2024 that more than 13,000 federal inmates were transferred to home confinement in 2020 under emergency COVID-19 provisions signed into law by Trump; those federal transfers are distinct from North Carolina’s state prison settlement.
If successful, Cooper’s campaign would greatly boost Democrats' chances of retaking the Senate. / Jonathan Drake / REUTERS
Other Disputed Claims
At the GOP convention in Dallas last week, Trump and other Republicans alleged Cooper released early the suspect accused of stabbing 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte train. The North Carolina Department of Adult Correction disputes that claim: a department spokesperson told The Charlotte Observer that DeCarlos Brown Jr. served his sentence and was not released early.
Hurricane Helene Response
Trump also criticized Cooper’s response to Hurricane Helene, which struck North Carolina in fall 2024 during Cooper’s final year as governor. Trump said Cooper "did nothing," but Cooper declared a state of emergency, issued executive orders, signed relief legislation, toured damage sites with President Joe Biden and traveled to Washington to request federal assistance.
Local officials offered a different view: Haywood County Commission Chair Keven Ensley, a Republican, praised Cooper’s involvement, saying Cooper "came here several times, spent a lot of time here." The Cooper campaign further accused Whatley of failing to secure recovery funding for Western North Carolina, asserting the region has received only about 15% of the needed federal dollars and alleging Whatley used his role for personal gain—claims the Whatley campaign disputes.
What This Means For Voters
The exchange highlights the bitter claims-and-counterclaims shaping the North Carolina Senate race: explosive rhetoric about crime and public safety, disputed facts about prison releases, and starkly different portrayals of how leaders responded to a major natural disaster. Voters will need to weigh the competing narratives alongside independent reporting and official data as the campaign continues.
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