September 15, 2025/Media, Press

Fact Checks Find Whatley Repeatedly Lied About Gov. Cooper’s Record Of Keeping Families Safe

American Journal News: “Whatley’s claim has since been debunked by Politico, Axios, and WRAL…”

Popular Information: “The claim by Trump and Whatley…is completely baseless”

 

DC insider Michael Whatley and Washington Republicans have been repeatedly caught lying about Governor Cooper’s record of keeping North Carolinians safe and putting criminals behind bars. In just the last few days, Whatley’s claims have been fact checked as “FALSE” by WRAL and called “unfounded” and “baseless” by Popular Information. 

New reporting from American Journal News found that the NRSC “deceptively edited” video footage to mislead voters and double down on Whatley’s lies.

Whatley is desperate to distract from his own record of backing cuts to state and federal law enforcement, which he called “vital” and “fundamental.” Read more:

 

American Journal News: NRSC uses edited clip to falsely tie Cooper to Charlotte stabbing

Jesse Valentine | September 12, 2025

  • The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) deceptively edited a clip of former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper in an effort to blame him for the stabbing death of Iryna Zarutska.
  • The edited clip makes it appear that Cooper endorsed pretrial release for criminal defendants as part of a racial equity task force he launched in 2020. In reality, he only said the task force would study the policy, which was never implemented.
  • Whatley’s claim has since been debunked by Politico, Axios, and WRAL, but the NRSC ad is still online.
  • Crime rates fell in North Carolina when Cooper was governor. Between 2017 and 2023, he enacted laws creating harsher punishments for gang members, gun crimes, and drug dealers. He also signed multiple bills increasing pay and resources for law enforcement.
  • An NRSC spokesperson did not respond to questions for this story.

 

Popular Information: A tragic murder, a baseless smear, and the fight for the U.S. Senate

Judd Legum | September 15, 2025

  • In the wake of Zarutska’s death, prominent Republicans — including President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi — have blamed Democrats. Trump and many others singled out former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (D), who is currently running for U.S. Senate.
  • This argument is completely unfounded.
  • According to Whatley, Brown Jr. would “have been behind bars years ago” but “[i]n June 2020, Cooper signed a soft-on-crime executive order, and just three months later, Brown was released from prison.”
  • Whatley is referring to Brown’s conviction for robbery with a dangerous weapon in 2014, which is a felony. He was incarcerated for that crime prior to his conviction and then sentenced to a little more than 6 years in jail. Brown served 100% of his sentence and was then released.
  • Executive Order 145, which Cooper signed on June 9, 2020, created a task force. That group, known as the Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, was created to “recommend solutions to stop discriminatory law enforcement and criminal justice practices, and hold public safety officers accountable.” Those recommendations, critically, were not even released until December 2020. Brown was released months earlier, in September 2020. So there is no way the recommendations could have had any bearing on Brown’s release.
  • Further, the task force did not establish policy or make law. It simply recommended policies for the legislature to consider. None of the task force’s recommendations were ever approved by the legislature. The task force, moreover, did not recommend the early release of any prisoner…
  • The claim by Trump and Whatley that Cooper is personally responsible for a gruesome and senseless murder committed by a mentally ill individual is completely baseless…

 

WRAL: Fact check: Whatley says ‘Cooper bears direct responsibility’ for Charlotte stabbing

Paul Specht and Will Doran | September 12, 2025

  • Republicans are trying to blame North Carolina’s former governor for policies that, they say, enabled a fatal stabbing on Charlotte’s rail system.
  • Asked for evidence that Cooper “bears direct responsibility” in the killing, Whatley’s campaign cited a task force Cooper created in 2020 that recommended changes to the criminal justice system, such as implementing cashless bail. Cooper told the group at the time that he looked forward to implementing their recommendations.
  • However, PolitiFact found no evidence that the task force or its recommendations played a role in Brown’s release that year or earlier this year. 
  • Whatley’s campaign noted that Brown was released in September, three months after Cooper created the state Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice.
  • But the report had no bearing on Brown’s release from prison.
  • Brown served 100% of his sentence and was not released early or paroled, the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction told PolitiFact. And the task force didn’t publish its recommendations until December 2020 — three months after Brown had already been released.
  • Further, North Carolina governors don’t have any power over who goes to prison. They have some power over who gets out because they can issue pardons or commutations. Cooper, who was governor from 2017 through 2024, did no such thing for Brown.
  • At the briefing, a reporter asked Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, which of the task force’s recommendations contributed to Zarutska’s death. Berger didn’t provide an answer…
  • Neither Berger nor Whatley produced any evidence that the magistrate consulted the task force’s recommendations before releasing Brown after his January arrest.
  • Our ruling: False

 

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