Trump invokes racially charged 1988 Willie Horton ad at North Carolina rally

At a campaign rally in Gastonia, North Carolina, for Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley, Trump resurrected the 1988 George H.W. Bush campaign ad featuring Willie Horton, a Black man convicted of rape and assault. He compared Horton's escape to the pretrial release of Decarlos Brown Jr., a Black man charged in the 2025 killing of Iryna Zarutska, and blamed Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper for Brown's release. Brown was charged in 2025, after Cooper left office in January 2025, and the pretrial release decision was made by the current administration. State corrections officials said Brown was not released early under any Cooper-era settlement. Trump displayed a mosaic of mug shots that overwhelmingly featured Black people and claimed Cooper had released 'some of the worst criminals in the nation.' Critics including Democratic strategist James Carville and civil rights advocates said the reference and imagery stoked racial division.

“Willie Horton was a bad guy, really bad guy. And they let him out, and he did terrible things. Just like this guy — look at these mug shots. These are the people Roy Cooper released — some of the worst criminals in the nation.” Quote verified against source