Whatley FOR govt weaponization BEFORE he was AGAINST IT (Got it?)

The TrumpTrumpTrumpTrump strategy marches on as Michael Whatley attempts to dig out of the massive hole Roy Cooper has put him in.  The drive-by media has attempted to paint Whatley as a foil to his mentor Thom Tillis, now established as a Trump foe:

[…] Whatley first commented on the fund May 20 after being approached at an event by a campaign a woman who told Whatley, “I’m very happy that President Trump has started this fund for the people who were persecuted by Biden on Jan. 6.”

McClatchy obtained a transcript and audio of the interaction.

The woman then asked Whatley if he would be on Trump’s side of the issue.

“Well, I will be because I have been with him since 2015,” Whatley said .

The woman followed up asking if that means Whatley thought the fund was good.

“Yeah,” Whatley said. “We’ll kind of see how they implement it and what they’re going to do with it, but you know, I mean they overstretched, right, they did ridiculous persecution.” […]

Whoa, Nelly!   Let’s jump in the Haymaker Wayback machine to when Whatley was a mere state party chairman who crashed a drive-by’s interview with Phil Berger at state party HQ:

Yep.  He was proud to be one of the first state GOP heads to condemn “the mob.”  We’ve yet to come across a demand for a retraction because Whatley was, um, *misquoted.*

How does this revelation wash with Whatley’s claim to have been “with Trump since 2015”?  Well, Whatley did not become a political household name until the summer of 2019 — when Thom and Susan Tillis began carting him around the state and touting him as a successor to disgraced outgoing state chairman Robin Hayes.

Whatley may have been “with Trump” in 2015, but he would have likely just been a face in the crowd that most people didn’t notice.  He wasn’t yet *famous.*

Also, does marching with Black Lives Matter count as being “with Trump”?  In 2020, the North Carolina Young Republicans got a permit to march with BLM as they rampaged across Raleigh.  The kiddies did their thing, and rookie state party chairman Mike Whatley had nothing public to say about it — one way or another.

Folks, we have one hell of a Hobson’s Choice facing us in November.  We have a US Senate race where the options are More Tillis or More Cooper.

Thom Tillis has been Michael Whatley’s mentor.  Whatley would not be where he is without Uncle Thom. Whatley has defended Tillis from critics repeatedly, and refrained from criticizing him on his votes or pronouncements.

It can be argued that Trump himself put us in this tough spot.  Way back in 2020, there was a conservative challenger – capable of self funding a campaign – ready to go against Uncle Thom.  But Trump stepped in and endorsed Tillis and that was the end of that.

In 2026, Trump publicly expressed anger at Tillis, but then turned around and endorsed Tillis’s protege.  Word quickly circulated around the Tar Heel State that you were through in the GOP if you dared to support someone other than “Trump’s choice.”

So– *surprise, surprise* — “Trump’s choice” won the GOP primary.

We’re finding out now that TrumpTrumpTrumpTrump does not work so well outside of a GOP primary.  Especially when the user of that strategy is an empty suit with no established principles or beliefs to communicate.  

Conservatism works.  There are a lot of instances proving that.  Sooooooo many Republicans succeed at election time by mouthing conservative platitudes but ditch it all once the swearing-in has happened.

Just imagine how much better off we’d be if candidates stuck to their guns and actually DID what they promised during the campaign.