NC-01: Laurie Buckhout and the Trump shout-out that was never really there.

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Republican candidate Laurie Buckhout lost a close race to congressman Don Davis (D) in 2024.  Davis is now representing – and running for reelection in – a much more Republican-friendly district.  After initially balking at a rematch — citing health concerns – Buckhout reversed course and jumped into the now five-strong GOP primary field for the First Congressional District.

She’s received some press here in 2026 about some bizarre deals she reportedly pitched to two of her primary opponents.

Buckhout’s behavior thus far is pointing towards quite a crazy primary campaign for the House seat. We’ve discovered yet one more item to toss on the pile of crazy that is being accumulated in Buckhout’s general direction.

Remember President Trump’s recent visit to Rocky Mount?  Well, Buckhout posted about it on Facebook:

 

Okay.  She appears to be telling us that (1) she was at the Trump speech in Rocky Mount, and (2) he said a bunch of stuff about her.

I believe that she was there.  The proof is in the photos.  I question the shout-out part.

Why, you ask?  I watched the full coverage of the speech provided by Fox News.  The ONLY person named Lori that he mentioned ON-AIR (at roughly the 1:05:44 mark of the video) was US Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

Here’s the quote from The President:

[…] Also, I want to thank somebody very special. She’s the Secretary of Labor. Lori Chavez DeRemer.Where’s Lori Lori? Thank you. What a job? What a job you’ve done. Our friend did me a big favor. when he recommended you. I was recommended by a great guy, great friend of mine and uh, big fan of Lori and He said that I have somebody that would be great and that was an understatement. You’ve been unbelievable. Thank you very much Lori. Appreciate it. […]

Hmmm.  The man says “Lori Chavez DeRemer” and she hears “Laurie Buckhout.”  And she was THERE. 

Pretty nutty, eh? 

Who knows?  Maybe she was recalling a 2024 campaign rally.  Maybe it all came to her in a dream.

The N&O apparently had TWO reporters at the Trump speech.  Neither of them apparently heard any endorsements or House candidate mentions from Trump. 

One more footnote to this farce —  The reporter who wrote the ncnewsline.com story Buckhout shared had to circle back and add THIS correction at the end of his story:

Oops.