LAS VEGAS — Just before announcing he wouldn’t seek reelection, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) warned that the One Big Beautiful Bill would kick hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians off Medicaid — and that Republicans would pay a price at the ballot box.
Yet the Republican who wants to succeed Tillis in the Senate disagrees, even as he treads carefully on other affordability and cost-of-living issues like tariffs and Obamacare subsidies.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Republican Jewish Coalition summit, former RNC Chair Michael Whatley defended President Donald Trump’s top legislative achievement, which included steep Medicaid cuts. Whatley said purging undocumented immigrants from Medicaid rolls, rooting out fraud and imposing new work requirements are popular.
“Those are widely supported in North Carolina. Those are widely supported across the country,” Whatley told us. “And I don’t see that those provisions are going to cause a political backlash.”
Whatley, who has the backing of Trump and Senate GOP leaders, will almost certainly face a barrage of Democratic attacks over his OBBB support. At the same time, Whatley is striking a delicate balance on affordability issues facing Republican candidates across the country.
The North Carolina race is a must-win for Democrats to have any hope of reclaiming the Senate majority, which is already an uphill battle. Whatley is set to face off against former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, a formidable opponent in what will be one of the most expensive Senate races in the country next year.
Tariffs, Obamacare and more. Whatley noted that Republicans’ 2024 electoral victories were fueled by Americans’ concerns about rising costs — the very same issue Democrats are looking to use to their advantage in the midterms.
“The affordability issue was the number-one driver in the 2024 election cycle [and] why President Trump was able to win all seven battleground states,” Whatley told us. “We need to make sure that we’re going to have policies that are going to be able to make everything more affordable.”
Trump’s tariffs are a lightning-rod issue for Democrats because of their impact on the price of everyday goods, plus the fact that Republicans generally don’t like them.
Interestingly, Whatley declined to say how he would’ve voted on Senate resolutions aimed at blocking Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Brazil, as well as the president’s global tariff regime. The Senate narrowly passed all three last week, with a handful of Republicans joining all Democrats. Whatley said he hadn’t reviewed the specifics of these bills.
But Whatley’s refusal to side with the vast majority of his would-be GOP colleagues was notable. Whatley said Trump’s tariffs are “a work in progress,” adding that Americans want “a trade regime that is going to work for American manufacturers, small businesses and farmers.”
Whatley also signaled support for addressing the expiring Obamacare subsidies after the government shutdown ends.
“This is one of several issues that they actually want to negotiate, they want to have that conversation on,” Whatley said of GOP leaders. “They need to figure it out. But obviously you just cannot have that conversation taking place while the government is shut down.”
Whatley vs. Cooper. Trump carried North Carolina by three points in 2024, but the state has routinely shown it can elect Democrats to statewide office. Democrats won the governorship and the attorney general race last year.
Getting Cooper, a popular two-term ex-governor, was a major recruiting coup for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
So Whatley is looking to shatter the notion that Cooper is a middle-of-the-road Democrat, accusing him of embracing soft-on-crime policies.
“Roy Cooper is a card-carrying member of the woke mob who has stood with the far left his whole career,” Whatley said.
