American Journal News: “Michael Whatley once praised Roy Cooper for cutting taxes in North Carolina.”
New reporting is highlighting that DC insider Michael Whatley is lying about Cooper’s “long-standing support for eliminating taxes for tips, overtime pay, and Social Security benefits.” Just a few years prior, Whatley actually praised Cooper for signing a bipartisan tax cut, calling it “one of the best bills for North Carolina that we’ve ever seen.”
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American Journal News: New Whatley ad distorts Cooper’s record on taxes
Jesse Valentine | July 24, 2026
- A new ad from Republican Michael Whatley distorts former Gov. Roy Cooper’s record on taxes.
- Some of these claims appear linked to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), the Republican budget law that created temporary tax deductions for some tips and overtime but also created permanent tax breaks for wealthy Americans and imposed deep cuts to Medicaid. Cooper opposed the law, specifically citing its health care cuts as problematic.
- Whatley’s ad is further undermined by the fact that Cooper has endorsed eliminating taxes for tips, overtime, and Social Security benefits on multiple occasions.
- As governor, Cooper enacted a bipartisan budget in 2021 that cut taxes for the vast majority of North Carolinians. Whatley praised Cooper for signing the budget, calling it “one of the best bills for North Carolina that we’ve ever seen.”
- Cooper signed an earlier middle-class tax cut into law in 2019.
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