Trump calls North Carolina among nation's worst

Trump targets Cooper at Gastonia rally

President Donald Trump criticized North Carolina’s public safety record Wednesday during a Gastonia rally supporting Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley, who is running against Democratic candidate and former Gov. Roy Cooper.

Trump initially described North Carolina as beautiful before calling it one of the nation’s most violent and worst states. He blamed the change on Cooper and called the former governor a “murderer-protector.”

That attack followed Trump’s claim at a Republican convention in Dallas that Cooper was responsible for the release of the man accused of killing 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska. She was fatally stabbed on a Charlotte light rail train in 2025. The North Carolina corrections department said the accused man, DeCarlos Brown Jr., completed his sentence and was not released early, contradicting Trump’s account.

Neither Whatley’s nor Cooper’s policy positions were part of Trump’s remarks described at the rally. The event placed both Senate candidates at the center of Trump’s criticism of the state’s former leadership.

Trump also criticizes Helene response

Trump also attacked Cooper’s response to Hurricane Helene, which caused catastrophic damage in North Carolina in September 2024. Cooper was governor when the storm struck.

Trump said Cooper did nothing after the hurricane and described Helene as especially severe because of its water impacts. He also said he visited North Carolina the following day.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services had recorded 107 storm-related deaths in the state as of June 2025. Trump’s comments linked criticism of the disaster response with his broader case against Cooper at the Whatley campaign event, as detailed in Yahoo’s account of the rally.