Michael Whatley has made crime and public safety the centerpiece of his campaign for U.S. Senate. While attacking former Governor Roy Cooper’s record on crime, Whatley has repeatedly found himself campaigning alongside and promoting men with convictions for sex crimes involving minors.
According to the Associated Press, Pastor Daimon L. King, a registered sex offender who has twice served prison time for convictions involving minors, delivered the opening prayer at an Aug. 28 event featuring Whatley and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. King has also served as a Craven County GOP precinct chairman.
King was convicted in 1998 after being charged with statutory rape and indecent liberties involving a 15-year-old student and served nearly five years in prison. In 2010, he pleaded guilty in a separate case involving an underage female relative and served nearly three more years. North Carolina records show King is required to register as a sex offender for life.
The revelation comes just months after Whatley faced scrutiny over his relationship with Harvey West Jr., another man convicted of sex crimes involving minors. West held leadership roles within the NCGOP while Whatley was chairman and said Whatley personally appointed him to the party’s Plan of Organization Committee in both 2021 and 2024. When PolitiFact asked the NCGOP about West’s account, the party did not dispute it.
Now King’s appearance has brought the issue back into Whatley’s campaign. In fact, West told the Associated Press that he knew about King’s convictions and had warned others in the Republican Party about associating with him.
Whatley has continued to make public safety a central attack against Cooper while largely avoiding questions about West. When WRAL recently asked his campaign to respond to Cooper’s criticism of Whatley’s relationship with West, a spokesperson did not address the allegations.
