Whatley Prayed for 'Integrity.' A Convicted Sex Offender Delivered the Blessing.

Michael Whatley built a Senate campaign on one word: crime. He wants North Carolina to believe Roy Cooper is soft on it. Then the invocation happened.

At a recent Whatley campaign stop, a pastor opened with a prayer asking God for "integrity and honesty." (cite index="1">Pastor Daimon L. King, who delivered it, is a registered sex offender twice sentenced to prison for convictions involving children, according to state and court records. The Associated Press reported that (cite index="2">King was convicted three decades ago of statutory rape and indecent liberties with a 15-year-old student, then pleaded guilty in 2010 to sex offenses with an underage relative, requiring lifetime registration. Read that twice. The man asking heaven for honesty at a law-and-order rally is on the registry for crimes against kids.

Whatley's people ran for cover. (cite index="1">Spokesman DJ Griffin said Whatley did not know King and that the event "was NOT planned nor organized by the Whatley campaign," pinning the invitation on the Craven County Republican Party. Convenient. And it isn't the only skeleton in the pew: (cite index="1">the episode risks feeding a Democratic ad blitz that has already targeted Whatley's association with another convicted sex offender, former GOP official Harvey L. West Jr. Two of them. On a crime candidate. You cannot script this.

Now the numbers, because they are brutal. (cite index="3">An Elon University poll released this week found Cooper leading 49 to 38 among likely voters, an 11-point gap, with the survey conducted August 21 to 31. That is not noise inside the margin. That is a candidate losing.

The money is worse. (cite index="4">Cooper has raised more than $35 million; Whatley has raised less than half that, about $16.1 million. Earlier FEC filings told the same story in cash terms: (cite index="5">at the end of June, Cooper reported more than $20 million on hand against Whatley's $3.5 million, after outspending him three to one that quarter. The former RNC chairman, the party's supposed master fundraiser, cannot fund his own race. Outside super PACs are propping him up.

So the cavalry rode in. Trump flew to Gastonia on Wednesday, September 16, to campaign for his pick. (cite index="6">He told reporters Whatley would "bring us back to sanity" even though Republicans control the White House, House and Senate. Sanity, from the man whose war is spiking gas prices. (cite index="6">Trump conceded gas prices are "a little higher" because of the Iran war but called it "a very inexpensive price to pay for what we've done." Easy to say when you aren't filling the tank.

Here is the grift hiding in plain sight. (cite index="6">Whatley, a former energy lobbyist, holds stock in ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and other energy firms per his Senate financial disclosures, and he backs Trump's Iran actions. The oil sector banks record profits while the war he cheers drives up the pump price. State Sen. Woodson Bradley put the question plainly, asking (cite index="6">why Whatley would back a war driving up prices for North Carolina families when it's already too hard to get by.

A candidate who prays for integrity while a predator holds the mic. Who preaches crime while cashing energy checks. Who begs Trump to save a race his own wallet can't. North Carolina, the man wants your Senate seat. MUCK YOU is the only honest invocation here.