December 3, 2025/Media, Press

With MAGA Base “Not Enthusiastic” About Whatley, GOP Primary Field For Senate Grows

GOP Senate Candidate Don Brown: “Ramming Whatley down North Carolina Republicans’ throats is not going to work.”

News & Observer: “Steve Bannon — a frontman of the Make America Great Again movement — this month is reported to have said Whatley ‘is not MAGA.’”

 

As DC insider Michael Whatley filed to represent Washington, DC North Carolina in the U.S. Senate yesterday, his vulnerability with his own Republican base was in the spotlight. As the GOP primary field grows, it’s becoming increasingly clear that “MAGA folks […] they’re just not enthusiastic” about Whatley as the DC establishment “ram[s him] down North Carolina Republicans’ throats.”

Read more:

News & Observer: Embracing Trump and ‘America First,’ Michael Whatley files for NC’s Senate race

Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi | December 2, 2025

  • Steve Bannon — a frontman of the Make America Great Again movement — this month is reported to have said Whatley “is not MAGA.” 

 

  • “One of the reasons he’s running so poorly in North Carolina. If you talk to the MAGA folks down there, they’re just not enthusiastic about it,” Bannon said, according to the conservative Daily Haymaker.

 

WRAL: Brown, Temple seek to upend Whatley for GOP nomination in NC’s U.S. Senate race

Paul Specht | December 2, 2025

 

  • Brown says he supports the president but thinks he could do a better job than Whatley of implementing his agenda. 

 

  • “Ramming Whatley down North Carolina Republicans’ throats is not going to work,” Brown said in an interview Tuesday. He added: “People really want to know, what are you going to bring to the table to try to help me? And that’s what we’re trying to focus on.”

 

  • While a Trump endorsement helps many Republicans, it doesn’t guarantee victory. Former U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, who represented western North Carolina in Congress from 2021 to 2023, defeated a Trump-endorsed Republican in the 2020 GOP primary for his seat. 

 

  • Primaries can be unpredictable especially for first-time candidates, said Jim Womack, who ran against Whatley for state party chair in 2019. Underdogs can gain momentum quickly if the frontrunner ignores the party base and makes other missteps, Womack said. 

 

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