NCDP Chair Anderson Clayton: “If this has been his pattern as a DC insider and Big Oil lobbyist, just think about how much worse it can get when he has the power and influence of the United States Senate behind him.”

In a new Op-Ed in the Fayetteville Observer, NCDP Chair Anderson Clayton slams DC insider Michael Whatley for enriching himself at the expense of North Carolina families facing skyrocketing costs, from gas, to health care, to utility bills. 

Whatley has repeatedly advocated for policies that spike his stocks while North Carolina families pay more, showing exactly how he will use the influence of the U.S. Senate to continue benefitting his bottom line. 

اقرأ المزيد:

Fayetteville Observer: Opinion: Whatley, Senate candidate, is profiting off conflict and costs

Anderson Clayton | May 17, 2026

• It’s the same story over and over again. DC politicians are using their power to get richer while working families are paying for it. 

• Michael Whatley, a DC insider and Big Oil lobbyist, is the Republican nominee running for U.S. Senate in North Carolina. It’s no wonder why Whatley has been cheering on the war: Since it started, his oil and gas stocks spiked by up to $219,660. 

• And this isn’t the first time. He also backed Trump’s pledge to increase oil production in Venezuela and made up to $63,000 in a single weekend from his Big Oil investments. 

• DC insiders and right-wing pundits have heaped praise onto Whatley and credited him with getting the One Big Beautiful Bill over the finish line after he called elected officials and pressured them to publicly support it.  

• And to no one’s surprise, he’s getting rich off that, too. The bill allows drug companies to jack up the prices of rare medications with no generic alternatives by keeping them out of the Medicare drug price negotiation process — the very same drug companies that Whatley has hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in. Their profits go up? So do Whatley’s. 

• Well, guess who holds hundreds of thousands of dollars in Duke Energy stock and hasn’t said anything about them increasing our bills? 

• You guessed it: Michael Whatley. 

• When North Carolinians pay more at the gas pump, Michael Whatley makes money. When our seniors are made to pay for overpriced drugs and out-of-pocket medical expenses, Michael Whatley makes money. When we have to pay more to keep our air conditioning on in sweltering North Carolina summers, Michael Whatley makes money. 

• If this has been his pattern as a DC insider and Big Oil lobbyist, just think about how much worse it can get when he has the power and influence of the United States Senate behind him. He’ll keep padding his bottom line at the expense of his constituents back home in North Carolina. 

• We can’t afford a self-dealing politician like Whatley in the U.S. Senate.

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