With Election Day just over 50 days away, Democratic US Senate Nominee and former Gov. Roy Cooper continues to hold events across the state. This week, he made his way to Goldsboro, the seat of Wayne County.
Goldsboro is the home of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, and Cooper was introduced by US Air Force veteran Johnathan Barnes and US Army veteran Scott Peoples.
“I’m grateful for our courageous service members who are on the front lines right now. 50,000 of them are in the Middle East, and I’m grateful for their courage, particularly as tomorrow we remember the anniversary of 9/11,” Cooper said. “We know that dangers lurk in this world, and we know that a strong military is critical to our freedom and our survival.”
For months, Cooper has held dozens of “Make Stuff Cost Less” events, focused on how to bring down the cost of living in North Carolina.
“ There’s so many people looking up at the middle class thinking ‘I’m never gonna get there? Is the American dream dead?’” Cooper said. “There’s so many people who are in the middle class who are barely hanging on, and just for too many North Carolina families, there’s too much month at the end of the money.”
Highlighting the cost of living crisis
Cooper blamed President Donald Trump’s handling of the war in Iran for rising prices.
“ The price of most everything is going up because of this war that seems to be endless without a strategy to end it. Even though we are so grateful for the men and women who are there, they deserve a strategy to end this war and to make sure that we return our economy to where it should be,” Cooper said.
The war, which began on Feb. 28, has claimed the lives of 18 American service members and sent fuel prices soaring across the US. As of Sept. 10, the cost of regular gasoline is $3.95 per gallon in North Carolina, slightly below the national average of $4.27.
Cooper highlighted his record of expanding Medicaid access as governor and the life-changing healthcare options that expansion has provided people across North Carolina.
“ We live in the richest country in the world. People deserve quality, affordable healthcare, and we’ve got to find a way to make sure that we do that for everyone,” Cooper said.
Since Medicaid expansion launched on Dec. 1, 2023, more than 734,000 North Carolinians have been enrolled in the program.
“That’s helped to lower costs for everybody, but the problem is in Washington, they’ve now cut Medicaid,” he said.
President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” ushered in $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid cuts between 2025 and 2034.
Cooper also criticized his opponent, Republican Michael Whatley, for owning stocks in utility and gas companies.
“He [Whatley] was a longtime DC lobbyist, lobbying for big oil and utility companies, lobbying for their ability to raise rates and to raise prices. And guess what? He still owns their stock,” Cooper said.
Cardinal & Pine posted a story last month on how Whatley’s family has up to $410,000 in individual shares of Duke Energy.
“ So as he cheers on this war in Iran and oil prices go up, as he refuses to say whether he supports the 18% increase that Duke Energy asked for, that I’m jumping up and down saying, ‘No way,’” Cooper said. “We’ve got to fight that every step of the way. He’s not saying anything about it. When that money comes out of your pocket, it goes into his. Do you think he’s gonna change when he gets to the United States Senate? No, he’s not.”
