One year ago, candidate Michael Whatley couldn't stop talking about Donald Trump. But at a campaign stop in Gastonia last week, he barely mentioned him at all. The shift was striking enough that local media devoted an entire story to asking whether the Republican is putting some distance between himself and the president.
Naturally, the media use the story as a club against Trump, saying he's bad and everyone hates him and candidates are running away from him. And I mean ... they are, in some cases, of course. That happens every midterm election and there are always endless stories about it. The Democrats seeking shelter from Hurricane Biden last time were particularly amusing, I thought.
Still, Whatley's... let's call it avoidance of the Trump nuclear football is pretty noticeable even given all those throat-clearing caveats.
WFAE noted that Whatley invoked Trump at least ten times when he kicked off his campaign last year. At his latest Gastonia stop? Two mentions. Both were about Hurricane Helene recovery. And when reporters asked whether he was trying to put some daylight between himself and the president, he didn't answer the premise at all. Instead, he pivoted straight back to Roy Cooper and the state issues he wants voters thinking about.
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