President Donald Trump’s Senate pick is taking a beating over his links to a child sex offender.
Trump gave North Carolina Senate candidate Michael Whatley a glowing testimonial back in March, shortly after the Daily Beast emailed the White House seeking comment on the controversy surrounding the former chair of the Republican National Committee hiring Harvey L. West Jr.
Trump, 80, shrugged off the scandal and declared that the beleaguered candidate will be “fantastic” and “one of the best.”
Now, with the Senate race in the Tar Heel State heating up, a new $2.3 million ad campaign from a Democratic-aligned political group is seeking to highlight Whatley’s links to West.
West Jr. was charged with the statutory rape of three girls, two 14-year-olds and one 16-year-old, in 1999, when he was a 28-year-old and working as a police officer. As part of a plea agreement, West Jr. served six years in prison after pleading guilty to 16 charges of taking indecent liberties with a child.
He previously told the Daily Beast that he was open with the party’s leadership about his past “from day one.”
This led to Whatley facing questions as to why he would elevate someone he knew was a convicted criminal. This, in turn, led to heat on Trump, who endorsed Whatley for the seat over his own daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, who then dropped her own bid and backed Whatley.
The ad, airing on YouTube, smart TVs, and streaming services, opens with a voiceover. “A police officer charged with molesting three young girls,” the voice says as news reports regarding the controversy are rolled.
“Then Michael Whatley hired him, even though West was open about his criminal record.”
The damning ad also includes a grinning selfie of the two men that West posted on Facebook.
Whatley is locked in battle with Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Roy Cooper for a seat currently held by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis. The Whatley campaign announced it raised $5 million from March to June, while Camp Cooper raised $14.8 million in the same period.
Cooper is leading in the polls, too. Some anti-Cooper ads from other Republican groups are already on the air, and polling suggests they may be having an impact. Early surveys this spring and summer showed Cooper with a double-digit lead, but a Public Policy Polling survey this month put him ahead by just 4 points.
Cooper’s team hopes the new WinSenate PAC ad will move the needle. “This is Michael Whatley and his NCGOP,” the NC Democratic Party posted on X in response to the ad.
West Jr., however, is likely to be looking on begrudgingly as his crimes are used as political fodder again. In March, he told the Daily Beast that both sides have “failed to understand” that prison rehabilitates some people and stressed that his past convictions have long been known.
“Every year around election time, somebody brings this up and makes it sound like it’s a new revelation,” he said.
Trump, meanwhile, is facing a potential midterm bloodbath. A majority of voters are convinced that gas prices are even higher than they actually are, a new poll shows, spelling trouble for the president with just four months to go until the polls open.
He has been approached for an updated comment. Whatley’s team has also been approached.
