CAROLINA BLUES

Trump’s Candidate Caught Scrubbing Confederate Flag From Campaign Event

A botched photoshop attempt has made the controversy all the more humiliating for a must-win MAGA candidate.

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A Confederate flag was displayed front and center at a campaign event for a Trump-endorsed candidate before someone hastily tried to scrub it from the record, the Daily Beast can reveal.

Michael Whatley, who is gunning for an open Senate seat in North Carolina, held an event last week at Henderson County GOP headquarters, about 25 miles south of Asheville, where the organization shared photos showing a Confederate flag prominently displayed.

In a Facebook post this month, the group shared several photos from the event, including one showing a woman smiling next to the Confederate flag and holding a Whatley campaign sign reading “Protect Our Families.”

The post was captioned “Proud Supporter,” according to screenshots obtained by the Daily Beast. But the Henderson County GOP later removed the photo and replaced it with the same image, this time with the Confederate flag shoddily photoshopped out.

Meanwhile, additional photos and videos from the event show Whatley, the former Republican National Committee chair, smiling as he strides past the flag.

A spokesperson for Whatley did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.

Confederate flags are classified by numerous institutions and hatewatch groups as potent symbols of slavery and white supremacy. Some Southerners argue that it symbolizes southern heritage despite the racist failed state that it once represented.

The flag Whatley was pictured with is a Confederate battle flag of General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, according to the American Civil War Museum.

Whatley’s campaign has been mired in other controversies that could be equated to his low polling numbers. Last month, he held a campaign event in New Bern, North Carolina, alongside Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The event opened with a prayer from registered sex offender Pastor Daimon L. King, who was convicted of both rape and incest.

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After the event sparked backlash, Whatley’s campaign spokesperson DJ Griffin told the Associated Press the event “was NOT planned nor organized by the Whatley campaign nor did the campaign invite any of the guests.”

However, materials that the Daily Beast has reviewed contradict that account. A virtual flyer for the event reads: “Paid for by Whatley for Senate and Laurie Buckhout for Congress.”

In audio from the event the Daily Beast obtained, Whatley acknowledged his role in organizing the campaign stop.

“Now I got a good friend who was in North Carolina for just a day, wanted to stop by and say hello. He called up, and he said, ‘Hey, where’s a good place to be?’” Whatley said, referring to Oz.

Whatley continued: “Well, let me call the chair of the Craven County GOP.”

In an X post, he later shared a video of himself alongside the Trump appointee, captioned: “It was great to host @DrOz on Friday night in Craven County to talk about how we are going to Make America Healthy Again and eliminate the staggering fraud in the federal government.”

A poll from Elon University released Tuesday found Whatley’s Democratic opponent, Roy Cooper, leading 52 percent to 39 percent among likely voters—a gap that has some Republicans ready to wave the white flag. The poll follows reports that the Republican Party’s top Senate super PAC has halted its ad spending in North Carolina after pouring more than $30 million into the race.

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Despite lagging poll numbers, President Donald Trump made a last-ditch effort on Tuesday to stump for his embattled candidate at a rally in Greenville.

But things went awry when Trump appeared to concede that Whatley had little chance of winning on Election Day, remarking that Cooper, a former Democratic governor, is “going to become your senator.”

“It’s crazy,” Trump said. “It’s crazy, you’re going to send him to Washington to represent you.”

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