March 13, 2026/Media, Press

NCDP Statement On JD Vance’s Trip to North Carolina

In response to JD Vance traveling to Rocky Mount, NC today to push an agenda that is sending costs soaring for North Carolinians, North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton released the following statement:

“No one has been a bigger cheerleader for the Trump administration driving up costs than DC insider Michael Whatley – and as prices soar across the board for working families, Whatley continues to falsely claim costs are down. Meanwhile, Whatley was caught championing policies that spiked his oil and gas stocks and made himself richer. Whatley is an out-of-touch DC insider who only cares about enriching himself while North Carolinians are slammed with skyrocketing prices.”

DC insider Michael Whatley priorities his own bottom line and has proven how out-of-touch he is with working families:

  • Whatley falsely claimed that inflation is “way down” and “costs are coming down.”

 

  • As North Carolina families face a more than 50 cent per gallon spike at the gas pump in just one week and as President Trump insists that rising gas prices are “a very small price to pay,” Whatley stayed silent.

 

  • Whatley personally financially profited after he cheered on the Trump administration’s pledge to increase oil production in Venezuela. In a single weekend, Whatley reaped up to $63,000 from his investments in Big Oil companies.

 

Whatley has repeatedly championed Republicans’ efforts to raise costs on North Carolinians:

 

  • Whatley – who called for repealing the ACA – supported DC Republicans’ refusal to extend the ACA tax credits that make health care more affordable for nearly one million North Carolinians.

 

  • Whatley backed the toxic GOP budget that guts Medicaid for hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians and is driving up health care costs, all to give billionaires a tax break. He called it a “huge win” and said he would have voted for it “in a heartbeat.”

 

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