GOP Senate Candidate Michael Whatley Faces Scrutiny After Convicted Sex Offender Delivers Rally Invocation

A recent campaign event for North Carolina Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley has come under intense scrutiny after the opening invocation was delivered by a registered sex offender. The appearance has injected fresh controversy into one of the country's most competitive and consequential legislative contests.

The man who led the prayer, 60-year-old Daimon L. King, leads the New Beginnings Celebration church in New Bern. According to official court and state records, King is a registered sex offender who has served two separate prison sentences for criminal convictions that involved children.

Standing before the crowd at an August 28 campaign stop in coastal North Carolina, King delivered a prayer requesting divine blessing for the gathering. He petitioned God to grant the event "integrity and honesty" while asking for the resolution of various injustices that he asserted had been "hammered down on the conservative movement."

While religious invocations are a standard feature of political rallies across North Carolina, King's role has created significant fallout as the November general election approaches. The Senate showdown between Whatley and his Democratic rival, former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, is seen by strategists as a pivotal contest that could determine overall control of the upper chamber of Congress.

The incident poses a direct challenge to Whatley’s primary campaign platform. The Republican has consistently sought to portray Cooper as an opponent who is soft on crime, a central theme that risks being undermined by the prominent platform given to a twice-imprisoned sex offender at a Whatley campaign stop.

The development also compounds an existing advertising blitz by Democratic opponents. Democratic messaging has already been heavily targeting Whatley over his past associations with Harvey L. West Jr., a former Republican Party official who is also a convicted sex offender.

In response to the controversy, the Whatley campaign sought to place full distance between the candidate and the pastor. Campaign spokesman DJ Griffin stated that Whatley had no personal acquaintance with King. Griffin clarified that the campaign neither organized nor planned the rally, nor did it send out invitations to attendees.

Griffin maintained that King's inclusion on the program was entirely arranged by the hosts of the gathering, identifying the local Craven County Republican Party as the entity responsible for organizing the event and managing its guest list.

Attempts to reach officials with the Craven County Republican Party for an explanation were unsuccessful. Similarly, King did not respond to multiple inquiries seeking comment regarding his involvement, and the Whatley campaign declined to make the Senate candidate available for an interview.

King has established a notable profile in local Republican politics in recent years, serving as a precinct chairman within the Craven County GOP organization. The pastor, who promotes himself as a pro-Trump Black conservative, frequently utilizes YouTube to broadcast sermons in which he praises Donald Trump, attacks what he terms "fake news," and claims to offer the "pure, uncut word of God."

The rally itself took place at the Craven County Republican Party headquarters and featured Whatley alongside Dr. Mehmet Oz, the former television personality who now serves as the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in the Trump administration.

During the event, Whatley and Oz spoke out against fraudulent practices within the nation's healthcare system. In video footage subsequently distributed on social media by the Whatley campaign, King could be seen standing prominently in the background, signaling his agreement by nodding along and offering a double thumbs-up gesture.

The following day, King published a post in his church’s Facebook group celebrating the rally. He praised the gathering, writing that the room was "charged with prayer and patriotism" centered around the Pledge of Allegiance, and explicitly stated that both he and his congregation "fully support and are behind" Whatley’s Senate bid.

King's criminal record dates back roughly three decades. At the time, he was employed as a marching band assistant at a high school located in the vicinity of Raleigh when he was formally charged with offenses including statutory rape and taking indecent liberties with a minor.

The controversy hits Whatley at a critical juncture in his political ascent. Whatley previously served as the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party from 2019 until 2024, when Trump chose him to take over leadership of the Republican National Committee. Whatley subsequently stepped down from the national party post at Trump's prompting to launch his campaign for the open U.S. Senate seat.

Political analysts indicate that these associations could damage Whatley's standing with key conservative voting blocs. Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University who is unrelated to the Democratic candidate, noted that the candidate is already struggling to build solid unity among hard-right voters. Professor Cooper stated that the far right has not yet fully coalesced around Whatley, warning that revelations involving King and West will likely exacerbate those difficulties.

The broader political environment on the right has grown increasingly sensitive to allegations surrounding sexual abuse. Frustration among Trump’s base regarding the federal handling of the Jeffrey Epstein matter previously created enough pressure to prompt the passage and signing of legislation mandating the release of related records. The public focus on Epstein's ties to prominent figures has heightened scrutiny across the conservative movement, leaving voters particularly watchful of any such connections among their candidates.