Michael Whatley rally prayer drew scrutiny in North Carolina after a pastor who led the invocation was identified in state and court records as a registered sex offender with prior convictions involving minors.
At an Aug. 28 campaign stop in New Bern, Pastor Daimon L. King opened the event with a prayer asking for “integrity and honesty” and for wrongs against the conservative movement to be corrected. While prayers are a routine feature of North Carolina political events, the choice of King, who has twice served prison terms for offenses involving children, has raised questions in a closely watched Senate race that could influence which party controls the chamber after November.
King did not return messages seeking comment. Whatley’s campaign declined an interview, and a spokesperson said the Republican nominee did not know King and that the stop “was NOT planned nor organized by the Whatley campaign nor did the campaign invite any of the guests.” The campaign said King was invited by the hosts, identified as the Craven County Republican Party. Local party officials could not be reached.
Whatley previously chaired the North Carolina GOP from 2019 until he was tapped by Donald Trump in 2024 to lead the Republican National Committee, a position he left to run for the Senate at the former president’s urging. The development complicates Whatley’s attacks on Democratic opponent and former Gov. Roy Cooper over crime policy, and it follows Democratic ads linking Whatley to another convicted sex offender, former GOP official Harvey L. West Jr.
Western Carolina University political scientist Chris Cooper said the controversy could further alienate some hard-right conservatives. He noted that anger on the right over the Jeffrey Epstein records release helped move suspicions about powerful figures into the mainstream. “The far right has not coalesced behind [Whatley] and these kinds of revelations will make that problem even greater,” Cooper said.
Michael Whatley rally prayer and event details
King, 60, leads New Beginnings Celebration Church in New Bern and has become more visible in Republican politics as a pro-Trump Black conservative and a precinct chair for the Craven County GOP. A video posted by Whatley’s campaign on X shows King standing behind Whatley and Dr. Mehmet Oz, who serves as Trump’s administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, as they criticized fraud in the medical system. King nods and gives a double thumbs-up during the remarks.
In a Facebook post the following day, King praised the gathering, writing that the atmosphere was “charged with prayer and patriotism” and saying he and his church “fully support and are behind” Whatley.
Past convictions and lifetime registration
About three decades ago, King was charged while working as a marching band assistant near Raleigh with statutory rape and indecent liberties with a 15-year-old student. He was convicted in 1998 and served nearly five years before being paroled, according to state corrections records. In 2010, he pleaded guilty to having sex with an underage female relative and served close to three years in prison, state records show. He is required to register as a sex offender for life in North Carolina.
Prior controversy involving GOP official
Whatley has also faced criticism over ties to West, who was a congressional district committee chair in the state GOP while Whatley was party chairman. West, a former small-town police officer, was convicted of five counts of indecent liberties with a child and served six years in prison, according to corrections records. His 2012 conviction reports led him to resign as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention. He has said he pleaded guilty to avoid the risk of a longer sentence and is no longer required to register.
After Republican activists reignited concerns about West’s role earlier this year, the state GOP barred convicted sex offenders from holding party office. Democrats have since spent more than $2.3 million on ads highlighting a photo of Whatley and West together.
In an interview, West said he was transparent with party leaders about his past and noted that his main state GOP role was elected, though he acknowledged receiving some appointments during Whatley’s tenure. “I’m not going to say Michael Whatley put me up there,” West said. “But I wasn’t taken off either.” He added that he has worked to atone and argued he has a right to participate in politics. West also said he knew about King’s record and warned others in the party when King was considered for a GOP role, saying, “Hey, y’all might want to take a look at this.”
Labor Day’s role in kicking off campaign season has drawn attention in other races as well, including how Labor Day signals the unofficial start of the 2026 midterms, underscoring the stakes of contests that could decide control of Congress.
