If you want to know how a politician will treat you once they're in power, watch how they treat the people asking them hard questions now. By that test, North Carolina Senate candidate Michael Whatley is failing badly.

Twice in less than two weeks, Whatley's campaign has called the police on reporters trying to cover his public events. Not hecklers. Not protesters. Reporters — doing their jobs at events his own campaign advertised.

Police on the press — twice

On July 9 in Raleigh, Whatley showed up to accept the endorsement of the Police Benevolent Association. When reporters tried to attend, several were denied entry, and event organizers called the police on The Assembly's Bryan Anderson when he tried to get in. NC Newsline reporters were flat-out refused credentials.

When NC Newsline asked the campaign to explain the police response, spokesperson DJ Griffin wouldn't. Instead he fired off this:

"Left-wing activists, like you, posing as 'journalists' already have their narrative written... They'll publish the same garbage and lies either way."

Nine days later, on July 18, it happened again — this time in Waynesville, where GOP officials blocked a reporter from the Asheville Citizen-Times from entering a publicly advertised event held in a town-owned building. The town attorney had to point out the obvious: public events at town facilities are supposed to be open to the public.

He's not hiding from the press. He's hiding from you.

Whatley is a former chair of both the North Carolina and national Republican parties. He knows exactly what he's doing. He's down by double digits to former Governor Roy Cooper in nearly every poll, and instead of getting out and meeting voters, he's shrinking his world down to friendly audiences only.

NC Newsline documented the pattern. Whatley has "increasingly withdrawn from nonpartisan media, cutting reporters out of event invitation lists and retreating to friendly, right-leaning podcasts and outlets where he can avoid potentially embarrassing slips." He's turned up on the Sean Spicer Show, Fox News, Newsmax, and Breitbart Radio — but won't stand in front of a reporter who might ask something he doesn't like.

And there's plenty he doesn't want to talk about. Whatley has refused to answer questions about how, as state GOP chair, he elevated a convicted sex offender, Harvey West, within the party. When a reporter asked him about it, he changed the subject to Roy Cooper.

His events, NC Newsline noted, are "generally limited to allies, supporters, and donors, and are not widely announced to the public."

This is what ducking accountability looks like

A person running to represent 10 million North Carolinians in the U.S. Senate should be able to take a question from a local reporter. That's the bare minimum of the job. Cooper has been crisscrossing the state holding public rallies. Whatley calls the cops when a reporter shows up.

If Whatley won't answer basic questions from the press now — while he's asking for your vote — what makes anyone think he'll answer to you once he has the seat? A senator who treats the free press like a threat to be removed by police is telling you exactly who he plans to serve, and it isn't you.

Source

• Brandon Kingdollar, "'Garbage and lies': Senate candidate Michael Whatley lashes out at media as campaign flounders," NC Newsline, July 13, 2026.