President Trump said Monday that former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper had the worst record on crime since Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, resurrecting the decades-old “Willie Horton” ad to boost GOP nominee Michael Whatley for Senate.
Mr. Trump pointed to the release of many prisoners under Mr. Cooper during the pandemic.
The president said the governor released them because “he didn’t want them to catch COVID while in prison.” Reporting at the time shows Mr. Cooper was reluctant and released them as part of a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union.
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“There has never been a Governor with such a bad record on Crime, and there never will be! Governor Michael Dukakis lost his insurmountable lead in the 1988 Presidential Race because he released Willie Horton, who went on to immediately rape and kill three women,” Mr. Trump said on social media. “What Former Governor Roy Cooper did is, believe it or not, far more consequential.”
Mr. Trump referred to the 1988 campaign in which then-Vice President George H.W. Bush, the Republican nominee for president, attacked Mr. Dukakis, the Democratic nominee, by pointing to his stewardship of a prisoner furlough program in Massachusetts.
Horton escaped from the furlough program and raped a woman and attacked her fiance in Maryland, resulting in convictions for kidnapping, rape and attempted murder. Bush ran ads about the crimes and won the presidency.
Mr. Trump hopes his soft-on-crime message elevates Mr. Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chairman who is trailing Mr. Cooper in polls.
The RealClear Polling average puts Mr. Cooper 9 percentage points ahead.
Mr. Cooper enjoys wide name recognition as governor from 2017 to 2025, and North Carolina voters have been willing to elect Democrats despite Mr. Trump’s wins there in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 elections.
Capturing the North Carolina seat would be a big prize for Democrats seeking a net gain of four seats to win the Senate majority. The seat is currently held by departing Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.
Mr. Trump said Monday that Mr. Cooper let out 83 murderers and that 25 recruited murderers, but he did not cite cases or elaborate on the numbers. He said 51 were serving life sentences.
The ACLU COVID-19 settlement included 51 persons serving life sentences. Officials told The Charlotte Observer in February that those 51 were eligible for parole regardless of the settlement and their inclusion in the deal did not mean automatic release.
Mr. Cooper is crisscrossing the state with a “Make Stuff Cost Less” campaign focused on price inflation.
Republicans are focused on Mr. Cooper’s record on crime.
At the Republican Party’s midterm convention last month, Mr. Whatley said Mr. Cooper left communities less safe with “revolving door” policies that led to the high-profile death last year of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutsak in a knife attack on a light rail train in Charlotte.
“Her blood is on Roy Cooper’s hands,” Mr. Whatley said.
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