JD Vance makes pitch to undecided voters, bashes Roy Cooper at NC midterm rally
Vice President JD Vance is in North Carolina Monday for a midterm campaign rally as Republicans fight to keep the state’s key U.S. Senate seat.
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Vance is appearing in Greensboro at the Koury Convention Center.
The vice president’s visit comes less than a week after President Donald Trump campaigned alongside former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley in Gastonia. Whatley is running against former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by outgoing GOP Sen. Thom Tillis.
North Carolina will be one of the most consequential states in determining control of the U.S. Senate this year as Democrats seek to capitalize on Trump’s plummeting approval ratings. Recent polls show Cooper with anywhere from a 5 to 15 point lead in the race.
Whatley welcomed Vance’s visit in a social media post on Friday.
“North Carolina needs a fighter in the Senate who will stand with VP Vance and President Trump in the Senate!” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Vance last visited North Carolina in March for a rally in Rocky Mount to support Whatley and Laurie Buckhout, the Republican congressional candidate seeking to unseat incumbent Democratic Rep. Don Davis in his northeastern North Carolina district.
Follow along below for live updates throughout Vance’s visit.
Vance called the November election “make or break” and said voters are facing a “stark” choice at the ballot box.
Vance acknowledged that not all North Carolinians have made up their minds yet on the election and may not be happy with everything the Trump administration has done recently.
“To anyone who’s still making up their mind, it is very simple. If you’re unhappy with the pace of progress, don’t hand power back to Democrats who drove our country to the ground in the first place,” he said.
The vice president wrapped up his comments with a call for voters to turn out in November.
“Let’s send a message to the Democrats: cut out the crazy,” Vance said. “We’re taking our country back.”
Vance took aim at Cooper, saying the Democrat “had left-wing activists in his ear, screaming at him to do their bidding” during his two terms as governor of North Carolina.
He criticized Cooper for vetoing voter ID legislation, a veto that was overridden by the General Assembly. He also invoked Iryna Zarutska, who was fatally stabbed on Charlotte’s light rail, after talking about the COVID-era prison settlement.
“I ask a pretty simple question, ladies and gentlemen: Do you want a person in Washington representing you who bends the knee to the far left? Absolutely not. And because we need somebody who will fight back against the far left, we need Michael Whatley in the United States Senate,” Vance said.
The vice president said Whatley would be a “fighter” for North Carolina in the U.S. Senate.
“What we need to say to Roy Cooper in November is, we are done with your BS. We are done with you prioritizing the criminals over us. We’re going to send Michael Whatley to fight for us because you won’t,” Vance said.
Vance touted the Trump administration’s resume, telling the crowd in Greensboro the administration has created 1 million new jobs and that the U.S. has its lowest murder rate in 126 years.
The vice president also criticized the Biden administration and said the Democratic Party has given way to “radicals who are hell-bent on ripping this country up from its very foundations.”
“These are the choices on the ballot this November, from Colorado to New York to Michigan and everywhere in between, particularly here in North Carolina,” Vance said.
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Vance took the stage in Greensboro shortly before 1 p.m., kicking things off with praise for North Carolina Republicans.
He specifically praised the state’s Republican congressional delegation, the state party, Budd, Buckhout, Balkcom and Whatley.
U.S. Sen. Ted Budd backed Whatley at the Greensboro event, calling the GOP candidate “day one ready.”
“There’s no learning curve, and I see him as one of the best partners I can ever have in the U.S. Senate,” Budd said.
Budd said Republicans have an opportunity to pick up Senate seats in states such as Michigan and New Hampshire. While Democrats appear to have the upper-hand in many states heading towards November, Republican candidates have fared better in recent polls in those states than other battlegrounds.
“I need more help in the U.S. Senate,” Budd said.
The incumbent, whose seat is not up for reelection until 2028, also expressed support for Balkcom and Buckhout.
Whatley took the stage about 11:35 a.m. and almost immediately took aim at Cooper, calling the Democrat “the worst governor in the history of North Carolina.”
The Republican said Cooper “campaigns as a moderate” but called him “a radical extreme liberal,” criticizing Cooper for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy while governor.
Whatley invoked the name of Iryna Zarutska, the Ukrainian refugee fatally stabbed on Charlotte’s Blue Line light rail in 2025. The Republican called the suspect arrested in the case, DeCarlos Brown, Jr., a “monster” who “should have never been on the street.”
Republicans have blamed Cooper for Zarutska’s death, arguing a COVID-era prison settlement led to Brown’s early release. But the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction said that interpretation does not reflect what happened, The Charlotte Observer reported previously, saying Brown was not released early at all.
Other Republicans on the North Carolina ballot this November kicked off Monday’s event shortly after 11 a.m.
Buckhout was the first candidate to take the stage, referring to her opponent as “do-nothing Don Davis.”
She was followed by state Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, who took over as the GOP candidate in Western North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District after incumbent Rep. Chuck Edwards dropped out over allegations he harassed two female staffers.
Incumbents Virginia Foxx and Addison McDowell were also among the first speakers. McDowell, a Republican from Davie County, attacked both the news media and Cooper.
He said reporters wrongly predicted the 2016 election was statistically impossible for Trump to win, calling the media, “idiots.”
He said Cooper made North Carolina “less safe,” and also called attention to his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, saying he closed churches but kept some businesses open.
Vance took off aboard Air Force Two for North Carolina at about 10:42 a.m., according to a pool report.
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This story was originally published September 21, 2026 at 10:49 AM.
