# Post ts_117293447626672058

- Post ID: `ts_117293447626672058`
- Platform: Truth Social
- Posted: 2026-09-18T18:26:15.749Z (UTC)
- Deleted: no
- Repost: no
- Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/ts_117293447626672058
- Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/ts_117293447626672058/analysis
- Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/ts_117293447626672058.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording)

## Post text

> Michael Whatley has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next U.S. Senator from North Carolina — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN! President DONALD J. TRUMP

## What the media says

**Video transcript** (3:10), transcribed automatically, so names and numbers may be wrong. Speakers aren't identified, so a voice in it may not be his:

> >> A very special hello to North Carolina. This November, I'm asking you to get out and knock on doors and volunteer and vote for Michael Watley, a great guy to be your next United States Senator from North Carolina. Michael has been with us from the very beginning and he's got my complete and total endorsement. Michael is a man that's going to do a great job. He has always done a great job, including the fact that he was the head of your Republican party and I won your state all three times by a lot. Michael is running against your weak on crime, former governor, radical liberal Roy Cooper. He is weak on crime. He has done such a bad job on murder and all of the other things with his sanctuary cities and everything else that he's always promoting and it would be a tremendous mistake because I know the people of North Carolina and Cooper is not one of them. As governor Roy Cooper supported no cash bail. He vetoed a bill to ban sanctuary cities in North Carolina and he's cut a deal with the far left activists to release 3,500 inmates from North Carolina prisons, including dozens of hardened criminals and some of them killers that are serving life sentences. He's out of control and if you remember that horrible event that took place on a train in North Carolina, he released that guy into our society and he killed that beautiful young woman. Since then, the inmates Cooper released have murdered 25 people in your state, rape 99 people and committed more than 600 felonies. Tragically, in this case, beautiful 23 year old Irina Zorutzka was murdered by a deranged monster on a train in Charlotte after Roy Cooper set that savage criminal loose. He shouldn't have done it. He was told not to do it and he did it and she's dead violently on tape for everybody to watch. If promoted to the Senate, Roy Cooper will sell you out to the radical left once again and flood your communities with crime and people like we just talked about stone cold killers. Michael Watley will never do that. He'll vote for strong borders, booming economy and the greatest military anywhere in the world. And above all else, Michael Watley is really strong on crime. He won't let people like that out to go out and savage you and your fellow citizens. We need every patriot in North Carolina to show up and vote for one of the finest people I know, Michael Watley, to be your senator. He has my complete and total endorsement. Michael Watley will never, ever let you down. Thank you very much.

## Media

- video: https://static-assets-1.truthsocial.com/tmtg:prime-ts-assets/media_attachments/files/117/293/446/971/730/537/original/e7809a01edc388bd.mp4

## Engagement

- Likes: 9,799
- Reposts: 2,235
- Replies: 156
- Views: unknown
- Metrics collected: 2026-09-25T18:00:57.511Z (UTC)

# Analysis

_Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-09-18T19:20:30.740Z (UTC): a model's reading of this post, not his words. Its psychological terms describe the language, not a clinical assessment of him._

## Summary

The text is a template endorsement, one of six identical ones posted the same afternoon. The significant material is in the attached first-person video. There, Trump blames Roy Cooper for the August 2025 light-rail killing of Iryna Zarutska ("he released that guy into our society"). By February 2026, fact-checkers had documented that the attacker served his full sentence and was released in September 2020, before the 2021 prison settlement. The clip adds an invented detail of defiance ("He was told not to do it and he did it"). It also turns campaign rearrest counts into crimes committed ("murdered 25 people... rape 99 people"). Cooper is pushed out of the state's in-group: "I know the people of North Carolina and Cooper is not one of them." Whatley's qualifications run through Trump's own record ("I won your state all three times by a lot"). The victim's death is used as spectacle ("dead violently on tape for everybody to watch"). The main finding is a pattern: a claim that has been publicly corrected keeps being repeated against a named opponent. The only action asked of viewers is to vote and volunteer.

## One of a batch, with the attack left to the video

The written text is the fixed endorsement template, and it went out on 18 September alongside at least five others with identical wording: Moody in Florida, Collins in Georgia, Marshall in Kansas, Rogers in Michigan, Buckhout in NC-1. Each has the same three parts: "[Name] has my Complete and Total Endorsement," the capitalized "HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!", and the signature "President DONALD J. TRUMP." Only the name, the office and the pronoun change. On its own the text is a slot-filled form and tells us little about his state.

The attached video is where the content is. It's a direct-to-camera endorsement in which Trump speaks in the first person ("I'm asking you," "my complete and total endorsement," "I won your state all three times"). That makes its claims his own, unlike a clip where a broadcaster or supporter does the talking. About a third of the clip praises Whatley. The rest attacks Roy Cooper. So the post is mostly a prosecution of the opponent, with the endorsement as its frame.

## The candidate's credential goes through Trump's own record

Whatley's qualification comes out as a claim about Trump: "he was the head of your Republican party and I won your state all three times by a lot." Service is folded into the endorser's victories, and the margin is inflated along the way (the 2020 result was about 1.3 points). The loyalty test comes first: "Michael has been with us from the very beginning." What qualifies Whatley is how long he has been loyal and how close he is to Trump's wins, more than anything on policy. That fits a long-standing pattern where endorsement means granting status, and the grant reflects well on the one giving it. The mild grandiosity here is routine. There is no sign of injury or rage. The trigger is campaign maintenance during a heavy endorsement cycle about six weeks before the midterms.

## Splitting, and taking Cooper out of "the people"

The two men are drawn as opposites with nothing in between. Whatley is "one of the finest people I know" and "really strong on crime." Cooper is the "weak on crime, former governor, radical liberal Roy Cooper," and then comes the line that pushes him out of the group entirely: "I know the people of North Carolina and Cooper is not one of them." That is splitting plus devaluation. A two-term governor the state elected twice is described as foreign to it. The same polarity shapes the order/chaos framing. Whatley is the restorer ("strong borders, booming economy and the greatest military"), and Cooper is the chaos agent who will "flood your communities with crime." In archetype terms, Trump is the king handing down a blessing, and the disowned trait of rule-breaking is placed on the opponent as the man who "set that savage criminal loose."

## A disproven claim, repeated

The central charge is that Cooper "released that guy into our society and he killed that beautiful young woman," meaning the August 2025 killing of Iryna Zarutska on the Charlotte light rail. By the time of this post, PolitiFact, WRAL, The Assembly and FactCheck.org had all reported that Decarlos Brown was in state prison from February 2015 to September 20, 2020. He served his full sentence and was released five months before the February 2021 COVID settlement that Republicans point to. His 2025 pretrial release came from a magistrate, after Cooper left office. The clip repeats the claim anyway, and adds a made-up detail of intent: "He was told not to do it and he did it." That line has no documented basis and turns a false causal chain into a story of defiance. This is distortion, meaning reality reshaped to fit a need. Since the claim has been publicly and repeatedly corrected, sticking to it looks more like strategy than mistake.

The recidivism figures ("murdered 25 people in your state, rape 99 people and committed more than 600 felonies") repeat numbers from Whatley's campaign, where they were rearrests and charges, not convictions. Fact-checkers found that more than half of the murder cases happened after the person's scheduled release date without the settlement, and at least seven people were out before it was signed. In the clip, arrests become crimes committed, and crimes that would have happened anyway become Cooper's fault.

## Language that describes the victim's death as spectacle

The dehumanizing words point at the attacker ("deranged monster," "savage criminal," "stone cold killers") and at "people like that." They don't point at a population group. The most striking line is about the victim: "she's dead violently on tape for everybody to watch." It uses the widely shared surveillance footage as proof and pushes the viewer's revulsion onto the opponent. Cooper's name sits next to that image, but the only action asked of anyone is to "knock on doors and volunteer and vote." The rhetoric is fear appeal with guilt by association, not mobilization against a person.

## Speech in the clip

Most of the clip reads as a script, but it has his usual extemporaneous run-on sentences, like "He has done such a bad job on murder and all of the other things with his sanctuary cities and everything else that he's always promoting." Loose, piled-up clauses like these show up in his rally speech from 2015 on and don't depart from that baseline. "Done such a bad job on murder" is compressed wording in the same style, not a word substitution. The name spellings "Watley" and "Zorutzka" come from the speech-to-text, not from him.

## Authorship

The post went out at 14:26 Eastern on a weekday, in the middle of a run of identical templated endorsements. The text has no errors or drift, and its signature block is the one used in campaign-office batches. Staff almost certainly wrote and posted the text. The video's wording is his in delivery, and its content follows NRSC and Whatley campaign talking points closely.

Sources: [PolitiFact](https://politifact.com/article/2026/feb/09/did-cooper-prison-settlement-release-suspect-in-fa/), [WRAL](https://www.wral.com/news/state/fact-check-cooper-prison-settlement-charlotte-stabbing-brown/), [The Assembly](https://www.theassemblync.com/news/politics/justice/the-blame-game/), [FactCheck.org](https://www.factcheck.org/2026/08/ad-attacking-cooper-makes-false-connection-to-murder/), [WRAL crime claims](https://www.wral.com/news/state/fact-check-trump-whatley-cooper-crime-nc-killing-september-17/), [Breitbart/Whatley figures](https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/21/exclusive-michael-whatley-democrat-roy-cooper-never-explained-letting-thousands-of-criminals-out-of-jail/)

## Fact Verification

| Claim | Verdict | Evidence |
|-------|---------|----------|
| "Trump won North Carolina all three times 'by a lot'" | **Half True** | He won North Carolina in 2016 (about 3.7 points), 2020 (about 1.3 points, roughly 74,000 votes) and 2024 (about 3.2 points). All three wins are real. The 2020 margin was among the narrowest of any state he carried. |
| "Michael Whatley was head of the North Carolina Republican Party" | **True** | Whatley chaired the North Carolina GOP from 2019 until he became RNC chair in March 2024. |
| "Roy Cooper vetoed a bill to ban sanctuary cities in North Carolina" | **Mostly True** | Cooper vetoed HB 370 in 2019 and later bills requiring sheriffs to cooperate with ICE detainers. Supporters framed these as anti-sanctuary measures. A statewide ban on sanctuary ordinances had already been law since 2015. |
| "As governor, Roy Cooper supported no cash bail" | **Half True** | Cooper's 2020 Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice recommended cutting back on cash bail for low-level offenses. No statewide no-cash-bail policy was adopted under Cooper. |
| "Cooper cut a deal to release 3,500 inmates, including hardened criminals and killers serving life sentences" | **Half True** | The February 2021 settlement of a COVID-era civil rights suit did provide for the early release of about 3,500 people over six months. Fact-checkers describe it as aimed at nonviolent inmates near their release dates, which does not support the 'killers serving life sentences' description. |
| "Roy Cooper released the man who killed Iryna Zarutska on the Charlotte train" | **False** | Decarlos Brown Jr. was in state prison from February 21, 2015, to September 20, 2020, and served his full sentence. He was released before the February 2021 settlement, which had no effect on his freedom in 2025. His release after a January 2025 arrest was ordered by a magistrate, after Cooper left office. |
| "Inmates Cooper released have murdered 25 people, raped 99 and committed more than 600 felonies" | **Mostly False** | The figures come from Whatley's campaign, which counts rearrests and charges ('99 for rape or sexual assault, more than 600 for violent felonies') from a base of 4,200 people, not convictions among the 3,500 in the settlement. Fact-checkers found more than half of the alleged murders happened after the person's scheduled pre-settlement release date, and at least seven of those people were out before the settlement was signed. |
| "Iryna Zarutska, 23, was murdered on a train in Charlotte" | **True** | Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, was fatally stabbed on the Charlotte LYNX light rail in August 2025. Surveillance footage of the attack was released publicly. |

Overall Veracity: 56%

## Authorship Analysis

**Aide-Written** (score: 15%)

### Indicators

- Text word-for-word identical to five other endorsements posted the same day, only name and office changed
- Posted 14:26 Eastern on a weekday, during business hours
- Standard campaign signature block 'President DONALD J. TRUMP'
- No errors, drift or tangents in the written text
- Attached video is first-person Trump delivery, but its content matches NRSC/Whatley campaign talking points

## Psychological Profile

### Traits

**Big Five:**
- Extraversion: 75%
- Agreeableness: 20%
- Conscientiousness: 50%
- Neuroticism: 40%
- Openness: 20%

Strongest facet: Low agreeableness (straightforwardness) paired with assertiveness

**Motives:**
- Agency: 80%
- Communion: 30%

Primary drive: power

### Narrative

- **Role:** Kingmaker whose wins in the state give the candidate legitimacy
- **Arc:** contamination
- **Contrasting:** Roy Cooper, cast as outsider to the state and releaser of killers

**Identity Claims:**
- 'I won your state all three times by a lot'
- 'I know the people of North Carolina'

### State

**Grandiose State**

**Trigger:** Maintenance (Midterm endorsement batch, North Carolina Senate race)

Sentiment: -0.30

### Clinical

**Malignant Narcissism:**
- Narcissistic: 45%
- Antisocial: 35%
- Paranoid: 15%
- Sadism: 20%

**Defense Mechanisms:**
- splitting (immature)
- devaluation (immature)
- distortion (pathological)
- idealization (immature)

**Cognitive Complexity:**
- Complexity: 35%

Cognitive Markers:
- circumstantiality

**Parasocial Techniques:**
- Direct address to the viewer as one of 'the people of North Carolina'
- Personal vouching: 'one of the finest people I know'
- Victim's death offered as shared spectacle: 'on tape for everybody to watch'

## Fact Checks (8)

_The model's verdicts from 2026-09-18._

> Trump won North Carolina all three times 'by a lot'

**HALF TRUE**

He won North Carolina in 2016 (about 3.7 points), 2020 (about 1.3 points, roughly 74,000 votes) and 2024 (about 3.2 points). All three wins are real. The 2020 margin was among the narrowest of any state he carried.

Sources: North Carolina State Board of Elections certified results

> Michael Whatley was head of the North Carolina Republican Party

**TRUE**

Whatley chaired the North Carolina GOP from 2019 until he became RNC chair in March 2024.

Sources: https://www.carolinajournal.com/key-nc-republican-leaders-in-dallas-for-rnc-convention/

> Roy Cooper vetoed a bill to ban sanctuary cities in North Carolina

**MOSTLY TRUE**

Cooper vetoed HB 370 in 2019 and later bills requiring sheriffs to cooperate with ICE detainers. Supporters framed these as anti-sanctuary measures. A statewide ban on sanctuary ordinances had already been law since 2015.

Sources: North Carolina General Assembly bill history, HB 370 (2019)

> As governor, Roy Cooper supported no cash bail

**HALF TRUE**

Cooper's 2020 Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice recommended cutting back on cash bail for low-level offenses. No statewide no-cash-bail policy was adopted under Cooper.

Sources: North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice report (2020)

> Cooper cut a deal to release 3,500 inmates, including hardened criminals and killers serving life sentences

**HALF TRUE**

The February 2021 settlement of a COVID-era civil rights suit did provide for the early release of about 3,500 people over six months. Fact-checkers describe it as aimed at nonviolent inmates near their release dates, which does not support the 'killers serving life sentences' description.

Sources: https://politifact.com/article/2026/feb/09/did-cooper-prison-settlement-release-suspect-in-fa/; https://www.factcheck.org/2026/08/ad-attacking-cooper-makes-false-connection-to-murder/

> Roy Cooper released the man who killed Iryna Zarutska on the Charlotte train

**FALSE**

Decarlos Brown Jr. was in state prison from February 21, 2015, to September 20, 2020, and served his full sentence. He was released before the February 2021 settlement, which had no effect on his freedom in 2025. His release after a January 2025 arrest was ordered by a magistrate, after Cooper left office.

Sources: https://politifact.com/article/2026/feb/09/did-cooper-prison-settlement-release-suspect-in-fa/; https://www.wral.com/news/state/fact-check-cooper-prison-settlement-charlotte-stabbing-brown/; https://www.theassemblync.com/news/politics/justice/the-blame-game/

> Inmates Cooper released have murdered 25 people, raped 99 and committed more than 600 felonies

**MOSTLY FALSE**

The figures come from Whatley's campaign, which counts rearrests and charges ('99 for rape or sexual assault, more than 600 for violent felonies') from a base of 4,200 people, not convictions among the 3,500 in the settlement. Fact-checkers found more than half of the alleged murders happened after the person's scheduled pre-settlement release date, and at least seven of those people were out before the settlement was signed.

Sources: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/21/exclusive-michael-whatley-democrat-roy-cooper-never-explained-letting-thousands-of-criminals-out-of-jail/; https://www.wral.com/news/state/fact-check-trump-whatley-cooper-crime-nc-killing-september-17/

> Iryna Zarutska, 23, was murdered on a train in Charlotte

**TRUE**

Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, was fatally stabbed on the Charlotte LYNX light rail in August 2025. Surveillance footage of the attack was released publicly.

Sources: https://www.theassemblync.com/news/politics/justice/decarlos-brown-incapable-trial-zarutska/

Overall Veracity: 56%

## Tags

- endorsement (90%)
- north-carolina-senate (90%)
- crime-fear-appeal (80%)
- iryna-zarutska (70%)
- splitting (60%)
- distortion (60%)
- aide-authored-text (80%)

## That day

_From trump.fm's machine-generated digest of the day, not his words._

**CNN, MSNOW and Politico banned from the White House "effective immediately," with "Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow"**

Trump spent Thursday night posting Fox News clips of other people praising him, including a historian who ranked him behind only Washington and Lincoln. Just after midnight he threatened whoever leaked his advisers' warnings about the Iran conflict: "When we find you, you will pay a big price." On Friday afternoon his account put out fifteen identical endorsements in about twenty minutes, and several carried campaign videos with harsh personal attacks on Democrats, including one tying a Muslim-American Senate candidate in Michigan to Hamas and 9/11. Soon after, he banned CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House, said more outlets would follow, and posted a fan video of a lion that has to "show the jackals who he is." The evening turned to celebration, with a Greenland security deal he called "a dream come true" and a list of accomplishments from what he called his "Term Three."

Full digest for 2026-09-18: https://trump.fm/date/2026-09-18/analysis

## Citation

- APA: Trump, D. J. (2026, September 18). Michael Whatley has my Complete and Total... [Social media post]. Truth Social. trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/ts_117293447626672058
- MLA: Trump, Donald J. "Michael Whatley has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be..." Truth Social, 18 Sep. 2026. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_117293447626672058. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.
- Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "Michael Whatley has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be...," Truth Social, September 18, 2026, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_117293447626672058.

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