July 31, 2025 • 37 mins
Tune in here to this Thursday edition of Breaking With Brett Jensen!
Breaking Brett Jensen kicks off the show from Gastonia by sharing RNC Chairman Michael Whatley's announcement to join the race for North Carolina Senate. He also shares interviews with State Representative Donnie Loftis and State Senator Brad Overcash, both of whom represent Gaston County.
Listen here for all of this and more on Breaking With Brett Jensen.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:21):
Hi Oh, Let's go hi Oh, Let's go oh.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Let's go oh the public, News Talk eleven ten and
ninety nine three and WBT Brett Jensen here with you
on this special Thursday night edition of Breaking with Brett Jensen,
as I come to you from Gastonia, North Carolina, pretty
much downtown Gastonia here on News Talk eleven ten in
(00:49):
ninety nine three.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
And we've got a special show for you tonight.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
And Michael Wattley, the former head of the NCGP, the
former head of the Republican National commit announced today that
he is running for US Senate on the Republican side
and looks to challenge Roy Cooper for the Senate seat.
And I will get into some of the things that
the Democrats are already putting out there, and so we'll
(01:15):
get into that later on. We'll get into that later on,
but first I want to play what was going on
with Michael Whitley when he made his announcement. He spoke
for about twenty minutes or so and to a crowd
of about one hundred people or so. It was more
or less invite only, and it was here in Gastonia,
which is where Michael Whiteley has lived since the late
(01:36):
nineties with his wife who was from Gastonia. So he
made his announcement. By the way, there was media there,
national media, there, tons of media from Raleigh, tons of
media from Winston Salem in Greensboro, and obviously Charlotte. So
here's brad Overcash North Klinta State Senator brad Overcash from
Gaston County introducing Michael Whitley, and then you'll hear the
(01:58):
beginning of Michael Whiteley's beach.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
So what you probably already know is that Michael Whiteley
is the most successful chairman the North Carolina Republican Party
has ever had. And that's based on every single metric
that a party could measure itself, election results, fundraising success
from Murphy Demanio. You probably also know that he is
(02:22):
the one that came in and helped President Trump in
his very first primary from the very first start to
secure a victory in North Carolina. You also know that
Michael Whiteley has been, by any measure, once again, the
greatest RNC chairman our country has ever had. We like
Chairman Whiteley so much and we praise him for all
(02:43):
he's achieved, But we love our neighbor and our friend
Michael Whiteley. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, let's give
a round of applause to our next United States Senator
from North Carolina, our chairman, Michael Whiteley.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
And I also want to thank President Trump, because without
his vision, without his leadership, without what he has done
over the last ten years to remake the Republican Party
into the party that is going to stand for every
family and every community all across the country, we would
not be sitting here today. You know, I became a
(03:27):
Republican on January twentieth, nineteen eighty one. I was a
twelve year old kid watching Ronald Reagan get sworn in
as our fortieth President of the United States, and all
of a sudden, the news coverage shifted over to the
fact that Iran was releasing fifty two hostages that had
(03:48):
been held for four hundred and forty four days. It
was a quick lesson that even a twelve year old
kid could pick up in peace through strength. I know
that North Carolina wants to see our economy do better,
more jobs created, safer communities, and a stronger military, and
(04:10):
so do I, which is why I am very proud
today to announce that with the complete and total endorsement
of President Donald Trump. I am running to be the
next Senator from the great state.
Speaker 6 (04:26):
Of North Carolina.
Speaker 5 (04:46):
Our campaign will be about North Carolina values. We will
fight for a strong economy, safe communities, and America that
is respected around the world. And we will win because
we will fight every single day for North Carolina and
the values that we hold so dear. I will work
relentlessly for every family and every community across our great state,
(05:12):
for every small business and every farm, for every soldier,
every veteran, and every military family in order to rebuild
our economy. I will fight for policies that will create
more jobs and higher wages, lower gasoline and grocery prices,
and lower taxes for every family. To keep our kids
(05:34):
in communities safe. I will fight to get rid of
sanctuary cities, and I will support the Trump administrations. I
will support the Trump Administration's efforts to deport violent, criminal
illegal aliens and keep the scourge of fentanyl out of
(05:54):
our communities, and every day I will back the Blue.
On September twenty seventh, twenty twenty four, Hurricane Helene ravaged
North Carolina, destroyed the western part of our state, destroyed
(06:15):
over seventy three thousand homes, killed one hundred and eight people,
unleashed seven billion dollars worth of economic damages to over
forty five thousand small businesses across the region. I was
fortunate to join President Trump on two trips to western
North Carolina, one in the immediate aftermath of the storm
(06:37):
and one right after he was sworn in for his
second term. It was the first trip that he took
of the second term, and while we were there, he
asked me if I would help to make sure that
the federal relief that the area needed would get there,
and that we would be able to get the debris
cleaned up, our cities rebuilt, in our peace will back
(07:00):
into their homes. Since that day, we've had a dramatic
improvement with a whole of government recovery effort which has
seen billions of dollars provided to affected homeowners, small businesses,
and local communities. A healthy, robust economy, safe kids and communities,
(07:21):
and a strong America. These are the North Carolina values
that I will champion every day. On the other hand,
Roy Cooper is offering North Carolina voters an extreme radical
left ideology, open borders, inflationary spending and a week America.
The Democrat Party that Roy Cooper will lead into the
(07:43):
elections is not the Democratic Party that we grew up with.
This is the party of Zoron Mamdani AOC, Jasmine Crockett,
Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, and Tim Walls. They want to
defund the police, get rid of ice, and keep violent, criminal,
(08:04):
illegal aliens from being deported. They fight harder for waste,
fraud and abuse than they do their constituents who are
paying our taxes. They fight for radical ideology in school
and boys and girls' sports rather than to protect our daughters.
Let's be clear. Roy Cooper may pretend to be different
(08:28):
from the radical extremists that run today's Democratic Party, but
he is all in on their agenda.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
So that is Michael Wyley.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
The first part when we come back, you're going to
hear him specifically talk about Roy Cooper and coming up
later on at the bottom of the hour, Michael Wattley's
only interview with a media outlet in North Carolina one
on one.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Or any interview.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
I got it, and we're going to be playing his
exclusive interview. You can only hear it on WBT, his
own only interview in the entire state moments after he
announced his candidacy. We'll be playing that coming up at
the bottom of the hour. Welcome back to Breaking with
(09:18):
Brett Jensen as I come to you live from Gastonia,
just across the street from Loray Mill, the old big
firestone plant which used to be the biggest plant in
the world. True story, And that's where Michael Wattlee announced
that he's running for US Senate. Earlier this afternoon. He
made his announcement sometime around three point thirty somewhere around
(09:40):
in that vicinity, and I was able to get some
interviews and coming up shortly in about ten or fifteen
minutes from now, you're gonna hear the only interview in
the entire state of North Carolina that Michael Wattley gave,
and it was to me moments after he gave his
speech announcing that he's running.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
So now here's you need to know.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
This is the part of the Michael Wantley speech where
he starts going after Roy Cooper and starts talking about
the differences between himself and Roy Cooper.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
In twenty twenty, when anti police riots broke out all
across the country, there was Roy Cooper marching through Raleigh
shoulder to shoulder with Antifa. In the General Assembly, Cooper
supported every tax hikes proposal that came to his desk
and ensured that North Carolina was the least competitive Southern state.
(10:35):
As governor, he opposed every tax cut that the Republican
legislature was passing in order to make sure that North
Carolina was going to be the number one state in
the country for businesses and families to move to. He
has never seen a dollar that he didn't want a
tax and he didn't want to spend. Cooper has had
(10:58):
opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to stand for common sense,
to get ideology woke ideology out of our schools and
boys out of girls' sports, and yet every single time
he has sided with the radical left against our daughters.
Cooper proudly hosted Joe Biden for a rally. You may
(11:21):
remember this in Raleigh the day after President Biden's disastrous
debate where he fell off the stage against Donald Trump.
Proclaimed to the world that Joe Biden was competent to
serve four more years, and then immediately after Biden pulled out,
he endorsed Kamala Harris. That was Roy Cooper, the governor
(11:44):
who has had to pretend that he was bipartisan. Can
you imagine him as a member of the Senate up
in Washington, d C. A Democrat run Senate led by
Chuck Schumer and Bernie Sanders. Roy Cooper has completely walked
away from the North Carolina values that we hold dear.
His agenda is designed to please donors in places like
(12:07):
San Francisco and Chicago and New York. My agenda is
designed to deliver results for the great people of Newburg
and Salisbury and Hendersonville. So, as we launch our campaign
for the Senate, North Carolina voters are looking at two
(12:30):
very different visions for our country. Roy Cooper has shown
us exactly what his vision for America is. Higher taxes,
dangerous streets, radical gender ideology, and a weaker America.
Speaker 7 (12:46):
I believe in a better.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
North Carolina and a stronger America. More money in your pocket,
safe communities, common sense, and a strong country. A better
state where you could buy a home, start a family,
See your kids do better than you have right here
in the old North State. I grew up blowing rock,
(13:16):
the middle class, son of an accountant and a library
I went to church, played sports, delivered newspapers, and mode lawns.
I worked multiple jobs to put myself through school, through
graduate school, and through law school. And I'm grateful for
the opportunities that North Carolina and America have given me
(13:38):
to go to work, to work hard, to build a career,
to get married, to raise an incredible family. These are
the values that I will take to the Senate with me.
I am honored that President Trump has asked me to
run for the Senate and offered me his complete and
total endorsement, and I am proud to stand with him
(14:08):
and fight every single day for every family and every community.
President Trump deserves an ally, and North Carolina deserves a
strong conservative voice in the Senate.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
I will be that voice.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
I am humble and excited to begin this campaign, and
I'm honored to ask for your support, for your vote,
for your prayers, for you to go right now to
widelyforsenate dot com and make a contribution. Together, we will
(14:52):
work every day across this great state, and we will
not stop until we're in a position to make North
Carolina a better, stronger, and safer community. And with every
vote that I cast in the United States Senate. You
have my promise that I will put North Carolina first.
Speaker 6 (15:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (15:22):
May God bless you, May God bless North Carolina, and
may God bless the United States of America.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 6 (15:30):
Let's go within this thing.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Okay, So a couple of things. Some people may be wondering, well,
how come you played like and by the way, real quick,
Whalley's speech was a lot longer than that. But I
did a lot of editing and just put some things
together and just cut out some parts and stuff like that,
so people shouldn't know that. Also, people are like or
may ask, well, how come you played you know, two
(16:15):
full segments of Michael Wattley And you're also getting ready
to do the only interview he gave in the state
of North Carolina coming up in about five or six minutes.
Why are you playing so much Wattley? Well, that's Roy
Cooper's fault. Roy Cooper gave a two and a half
or two minutes and forty five second video. That's what
(16:37):
he did, like his usual Melba toast, his usual rice cake,
just extremely bland and boring. That's what he put out there.
That's what he put out there. And I played his
two minutes and forty five seconds of his riveting video.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
I played it.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
And then what did Roy Cooper do the very next day?
I believe went on Rachel Maddow. Of course, someone who
teaches at Harvard would be going on Rachel Maddow. Of
course that tells you all you need to know. Didn't
do regular media media, ABC, CBS, Oh no, oh, no,
went to Rachel Maddow.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
Of course he did. So.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Michael Wattley had a big rally, or not a big round,
but just had a rally of invited people, had a
rally in Gastonia where he made his announcement in front
of his literal neighbors. And so that's why he gave
a big speech. I played all of Roy Cooper's It's
not my fault. It only took two minutes and forty
five seconds. I played it from beginning to end. So
(17:39):
that's a Cooper problem. And what do you think the
odds of Roy Cooper sitting down with me one on
one are? He wouldn't take my questions for fourteen straight
months during COVID, fourteen straight months that shot. Observer wrote
about it Associated Press. I believe the Roley News and
Observer and I think even seant Axios wrote about it
about how he would not take make my questions for
(18:01):
fourteen straight months.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
I just want you to think about that.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
So, hey, I played everything Roy Cooper put out there,
and so now I'm doing the exact same thing for
Michael Wattley.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
And when we return, you're gonna.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Hear my exclusive one on one sit down interview with
Michael Wattley six minutes seven minutes after, right, let me
take that back, ten minutes after he made his announcement
and finished his speech.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Ten minutes later, I'm sitting down with.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
Michael Wattley in the back corridors, sitting down and having
a one on one interview with him about him running
for Senate. The only interview he gave to anyone in
the entire state, it was me and Fox News. So
that's coming up next. Welcome back to Breaking with Brett
(18:57):
Jensen on this Thursday night. Seven four five, seven eleven.
Ten is the telephone number, and that is also the
text line. And you can, by the way, the text
line is always brought to you by Liberty Buick and
g g he s probably one more time Jensen, Liberty
Buick and gmc so in Gastonia is still in Gastonia,
(19:17):
right near downtown at the Loray Mill, which used to
be the old firestone plant, which was at one point
was the largest factory in the world, had more square
footage under one roof than any factory in the world.
And so anyways, that's where Michael Wattley announced earlier today
about three point thirty or so that he's running for
US Senate and we'll be going against Roy Cooper. Michael
(19:40):
Watley of course, has Donald Trump's endorsement.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Michael Wattley was.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
The head of the NCGP and then he became head
of the RNC and you know, he was very successful
at his position there. He got Donald Trump North Carolina
in twenty sixteen, twenty twenty, and twenty twenty four, and
he got also Ted budd in twenty twenty two, not
to mention a lot of other various things. So he's
(20:04):
been very very successful as running elections and helping out elections,
and now he's going to be running for an election
for the very first time himself. He's never ran for
office before, but obviously he knows the inner workings of
politics and congressmen and senators and state senators and local
represent local reps. He was the head used to be
(20:24):
the vice chair of the Gaston GOP back what some
twenty five years ago, So he knows politics inside and out.
So after he made his announcement front of one hundred
or so people, he then and did a quick live
interview with Fox News, and then shortly after that he
sat down with me for about five minutes or so.
(20:46):
And it's the only interview to any media outlet in
the state of North Carolina, and the only place you
can hear it is right here on WBT. You and
I last spoke during the first week in June at
the NCGP convention. If you'd given a fiery speech, and
I asked you then, had you ever thought about running
for any particular office, because that was the hot rumor.
(21:07):
Then here we are almost two months later, and now
you're running for Senate. What was going on between the
time we spoke in June to where we are today.
Speaker 5 (21:16):
Well, I think ultimately it was that Senator Tillis decided
that he was not going to run for reelect, and
so you know, the conversations that I had with the
President and others really kind of led us to believe
that I was in a great position to be able
to step into this race and be able to win it.
And I think that, you know, it's an honor obviously
to have President Trump endorse me for the race. You know,
(21:38):
for him to call and and suggest that that we
take a hard look at it makes a tremendous difference.
I mean, it really does. But you know, we're in
it because we need a solid conservative in the Senate.
President Trump needs a solid ally in the Senate, and
we're going to win this thing.
Speaker 4 (21:55):
Governor McCoy used to say all the time when someone
runs for office, it's not just that person, it's the
entire family that's running for office. And you know, it
takes a toll in the family. So when you approach
the subject of possibly doing this with your wife, what
was the reaction.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
Well, you know, she is fully on board and she
completely supports, you know, and we avoided running for office
while we had our kids at school and our kids
were at home. But now with all of them in school,
that was a different conversation. And she's in and all
of the kids are in, and everybody's very excited.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
Speaking with US Senate candidate Michael Waltley, who had now
said he's running for Senate today. Okay, So if I
say the name Woy Cooper, what comes to mind?
Speaker 5 (22:33):
You know, somebody who has fought against the values of
North Carolina consistently as a legislator, as an attorney general,
and as a governor. And I think that he is
a radical. He is an extremist, and I think that
nobody has really taken the time and effort to kind
of call him out on that. And we're going to
have that conversation over the next fifteen months.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
People are talking about this being the most expensive Senate
race in US history. Do you think that's an accurate assessment?
What do you think it's going to cost?
Speaker 5 (23:01):
You know, I think it's going to be the most
expensive Senate race in history. I do think that we're
looking at probably five six hundred million dollars that would
be spent all in. We are certainly going to make
sure that we hit our marks in terms of the
money we need to raise into the campaign. So we're excited, though.
I think every single day we're going to see opportunities
to gather support and see where it comes from around
(23:23):
the country and around North Carolina.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
We've done a lot of interviews over the last several years.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
But who's Michael Waltley.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
You know, Michael Wadley is a kid that grew up
in Blowing Rock. I am a middle class son of
an accountant and a lawyer. And I'm a kid who
has always worked. I put myself through college. I have
been able to live the American dream, you know, through
hard work and opportunities. I'm a guy who's helped a
lot of people win a lot of elections over the years.
The North Carolina Party chair and is the R and
(23:50):
C chair, and I am somebody who is absolutely committed
to North Carolina.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Now that you're not in charge of fair elections, how
are you going to make sure that there are fair elections?
Speaker 5 (23:59):
Well, look, we know what we're doing here in North Carolina.
I think the state party has done a fantastic job
of that since the time I was chair. Jason Simmons,
who's the chair right now, I feel very comfortable that
they will have a program. The RNC is going to
continue their national program. That is something that is very
important to the president. It's very important to me. You know,
(24:19):
I'll be stepping down as the R and C chair
in August, but I have no doubt that they will
continue to fund those types of efforts.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
You grew up in Blowing Rock, you went to school
at UNCC before getting your law degree, and you've lived
in Gastonia since the late nineties.
Speaker 7 (24:33):
Was there ever a doubt that you.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
Would make your announcement in Gastonia?
Speaker 6 (24:36):
No.
Speaker 5 (24:36):
I mean as soon as soon as we had that
conversation with the President decided that we were going to go,
there was no question about doing this at home. Gaston
County has been an amazing place for me. Blowing Rock
was an amazing place for me. I love North Carolina,
but you want to be at home.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Take me behind the scenes with the conversation with President Trump.
What was that like when you were having discussions with
him about potentially running for senate or when you finally said,
you know what, we are going to run for senate.
Can you take us byd the scenes?
Speaker 5 (25:03):
Well, look, it was a fairly brief conversation.
Speaker 7 (25:05):
You know.
Speaker 5 (25:05):
He called it and he said, hey, look, you know,
we think that you're the best guy for this race.
I certainly think that you need to give it very
serious consideration, and if you do it, we'll be all
in for you.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
All right.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
So, last question, and I'd like to end every interview
the same way, and just like we did in June,
is there anything that you want to say to the
voters of North Carolina and everyone listening right now.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
Look, I am very excited about this race. I'm very
excited about running for US Senate, but more importantly, I'm
very excited about winning this race. And I want to
be a Senator who is going to fight for every family,
for every community, for every farm, for every small business
all across North Carolina. I think it is absolutely critical
for us to have a voice in the Senate that
(25:45):
is going to be a strong conservative voice and represent
every county all across the state.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
Michael Walley declaring for US Senate today, I really appreciate
your time.
Speaker 5 (25:54):
It's good to see you, sir.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
So that is the exclusive interview with Michael wats that
you're not going to hear anywhere else anywhere, I mean
in this entire state.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
And so again, thank you to him.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
You know, I found out Sunday that he was going
to announce today this afternoon in Gastonia. And I found
this out on Sunday and I immediately before anyone else
started working up, you know, trying to work the pipeline,
if you will, to try see if we can't set
up an interview, like he's been on WBT many times.
(26:29):
Last week Friday he was on with Brett Warnable and
everyone was anxious to see what he had to say
on the Brett Winnables Show because the report had just
dropped twenty four hours earlier that he was going to
announce his run for Senate this week. And so you know,
I I you know, and I've interviewed Michael Wattley many, many,
many times when he was the head of the NCGP
(26:50):
as well as head of the RNC and so you know,
he knows me, and he knows our station, and he's
from here, and he grew up no I mean not
grow up, excuse, but we moved here in the late nineties.
You know, he knew about WBT and he knows about WBT,
and so he and his people thankfully and gratefully allowed
(27:13):
us or allowed me to do a sit down, one
on one interview with Michael Watley.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Like I said, it was about ten.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
Minutes or so after he finished speaking, after he did
his one national interview, and then I got his only
local interview, and so I was extremely appreciative of that.
So when we come back, you're gonna hear from North
Kunta State Senator brad Overcash and North Kunta State Legislator
Donnie Loftus. They both represent Gaston County, and I want
(27:40):
to talk to them about Michael Wattley the person, and
I also wanted to talk to them about you know,
what does this mean to have someone from Gastonia running
for US Senate and specifically against Roy Cooper. So well,
here are those interviews when we return.
Speaker 7 (28:05):
I am still living with your goals.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
Welcome back to Breaking with Brett Jensen this Thursday night,
as I come to you live from Gastonia, where Michael
Way less than three hours ago announced that he's running
for US Senate on the Republican side, and we'll be
going against Roy Cooper.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
We'll be going against Roy Cooper.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
By the way, here's the reaction before we get to
the interviews at with some state reps and a state center.
So the head or the Democratic Senate Committee put out
an email, Roy Cooper put out an email, and the
North Carolina Democrat Party put out an email, all nearly
(28:50):
in succession from three different entities, and all three said
the exact same thing.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
All three.
Speaker 4 (28:58):
Their big, big back of Michael Wattley is that and
I'm using a quote, a direct quote here, a lobbyist
for big oil.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
But that's all you got. I mean, if.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
They have known this for over a week, that it
was Michael Wattley, and they probably had stuff for going back,
you know, at least a month where they had stuff,
possibly with Pat Harrigan or possibly with Laura Trump or
so they were doing the recon on all of this,
and that's what you got. The big bashing was that
he was part of Trump Maga and he used to
(29:37):
be a lobbyist for big oil.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Okay, good luck with that one. Let me see, let
me know how long that one plays out. All right.
So here's my interview with Donnie loft Is.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
He's a North Kinta state legislator out of Gaston County
and he was there today and I wanted to talk
to him about this whole Michael Watley situation, considering Michael
Wattley lives in Gastonia. So moments ago, Michael Wally announced
that he's running for Senate and it's going to be
(30:06):
challenging against Roy Cooper. So what were your thoughts when
you first heard that it was going to be Michael Walley.
Speaker 8 (30:13):
I was just astonished, but extremely happy because here's a
credible person that could carry the conservative banner for Republicans
in North Carolina.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
Now you are a representative with from Gaston County, So
what does it? Does it give any extra meaning or
boost to you because he is from Gastonian and still
lives in Gastonia.
Speaker 8 (30:34):
One of the things I think it ties to is
the rich heritage of Gaston County, the textile industry before NAFTA, KAFTA,
all those different things impacted our community losing twenty five
thousand jobs. It is here at the Firestone Mill, which
at one time was the largest textile meal in the
whole world. So I think it gives him that rich
(30:56):
heritage of we show up for work every day, where
the average there's Joe and Sally who makes America run.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
A lot of excitement. But these are his people, these
are his neighbors.
Speaker 4 (31:06):
What do you think the reaction will be statewide?
Speaker 8 (31:10):
I think him being previously the NCGP chair that gives.
Speaker 7 (31:14):
Him a lot of credibility.
Speaker 8 (31:16):
He's known in all one hundred counties and then to
be elevated to the national chair. That gives him credibility
across the United States in fundraising, which is going to
be critical in this race.
Speaker 3 (31:29):
I'm glad you brought that up.
Speaker 4 (31:30):
And speak with Donny Loftus's North Countin legislator out of
Gaston County. They're talking about the most expensive center race
in the history of America. And you know five billion,
seven hundred and fifty billion they're talking about could be spent.
So what does that say to you that there's that
expensive of a race and that highly contested of a race.
Speaker 8 (31:50):
It shows me that the fine line in the Senate
between Republicans and Democrats are that close that everybody wants
to win on on either side, and they're willing to
put up the funding to do millers, to do tv ads,
to do the things you have to do to get
your message to eleven million, three hundred thousand people in
(32:12):
North Carolina.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
Now, if I say the two names or the name
Roy Cooper, what comes to mind?
Speaker 7 (32:18):
As a representative.
Speaker 8 (32:19):
Since twenty twenty one, I have twenty nine veto overrides
in my desk drawer in Raleigh that we voted to
do a lot of things to impact North Carolina in
a very positive but conservative manner. That's the first thing
that comes to mid twenty nine vetos. And then we
have the eight hundred and eighty eight days of COVID
(32:40):
where the emergency order impacted closing everybody but churches.
Speaker 7 (32:46):
At church, you couldn't go to church.
Speaker 8 (32:47):
But you could go to Walmart, you could go to
a bar, you could go anywhere, but the church didn't
play a significant role. So those are the two biggest things.
Eight hundred and eighty eight days. The legislative body changed that.
That will never happen again.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
Donnie Lotchen's representative out of Gaston County. I really appreciate
your time today, absolutely, any Tom Okay, clearly, real quick.
I said five hundred billion and seven hundred and fifty billion.
Clearly I meant five hundred million in seven hundred and
fifty million.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (33:16):
So now here is State Senator Brad Overcash who actually
introduced Wally at the big gathering today. So he was
the one that you know you heard him earlier introducing Wally. Well,
here's my one on one interview with North County State
Senator Brad Overcash. You're from Gaston County. Michael Wattley has
lived in Gaston County Gastoni since nineteen ninety eight.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
You have worked very close with with.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
Him over the last several years, So what are your
thoughts about him running for senator.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
I'm so excited that he's doing this. Michael Wattley is
a winner. He has succeeded and won for the people
in North Carolina at every stop he's made and getting
and having him serve as our candidate, our nominee for
US Senate insures that we're going to win this thing.
Speaker 4 (33:58):
You knew him personally. What do people not know about
Michael Wally?
Speaker 1 (34:02):
He is a dedicated person. Everything he undertakes, whether it's
with his family, whether it's with his church, the community,
party work, political office, his business. He is a dedicated person.
Speaker 7 (34:18):
That is that that is.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
Just tireless speaking with the north kind of state Senator
of brad overcash out of Gaston County. If I say
the name Roy Cooper, what comes to your mind?
Speaker 1 (34:32):
We spent the entire session last session having to deal
with veto overrides because Roy Cooper couldn't bring himself to
protect our daughters and keep men out of women's sports.
He couldn't bring himself to support legislation that would stop
(34:53):
sex change surgeries, et cetera. A lot of folks he's
going to want to put the image out that he's
from Rocky, that he's an eastern North Carolina Democrat, but
his record as governor just is.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
The opposite of that.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
He is a left wing, committed liberal.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
When he announced one of those big press releases, and
Chuck Schumer even made mention of it, was that under
Roy Cooper the state had a balanced budget his entire time.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
Isn't that state law?
Speaker 1 (35:22):
It is state law, and he had nothing to do
with that. I can assure you the Republicans and the
General Assembly are the reason and the hard working people
of North Carolina are the reason that North Carolina is
the number one state to do business. It certainly was
not because of Roy Cooper, and in fact, it was
in spite of Roy Cooper's best efforts otherwise.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
So one last question about Roy Cooper. You were, you know,
you've been in rally firsthand, having to deal with the
funding and everything else. What can you talk about his
shortcomings if there were any with Western North Carolina.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
Well, I think you have to go back beyond Western
North Carolina. I think you have to to look and
I don't believe anyone says that the response to the
hurricanes in the East, we're still dealing with that, we
still have people in temporary in temporary housing, and that
was all Roy Cooper and the lack of an appropriate response.
(36:16):
You know, I think I think Helene in Western North Carolina.
All I can say is thank God Michael Whiteley was
appointed by the President to lead those efforts over there,
and that's what's getting Western North Carolina back on track,
along with our great Christian and faith groups and the good,
hard working people of Western North Carolina, certainly not Roy Cooper.
Speaker 4 (36:34):
So let's get back real quick to Michael Watley was
peaking with brad over Cashi sty Centator out of Gaston County.
So when people go into the ballot box in November
next year. In November, when they go into the ballot box,
what should people remember and when trying to decide who
to vote for.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
He's a North Carolina son that shares the hard the
same values that hard working North Carolinians do. He's not
going up there for Hubris, He's not going up there
for for his own self. Aggrandizement. He's going up there
to fight for those good hard work in North Carolinians
and the values that we all hold.
Speaker 4 (37:07):
Dating Bright Overcash today, Centaer, I really appreciate your time today.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
Thank you for I appreciate it all right.
Speaker 4 (37:13):
So a lot to unpack there today. And if you
missed any part of today's show, and it was a
very full one, go to WBT dot com, click on
the menu the podcast section and you'll see Breaking with
Brett Jensen. You'll hear Michael Wattley's speech where he made
his announcement, the exclusive only place in the entire state
that you'll hear his one on one exclusive interview with
(37:34):
uh that he sat down with me moments after his announcement,
then obviously again with Donnie Loft's state representative, and then
the state Senator Bret Overcash for joining me also.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
So that's going to do it for us tonight.
Speaker 4 (37:45):
Make sure you stick around for tomorrow because we got
another big show for you plan tomorrow night. So for
everyone here in Gaston County, my name is Brett Jensen,
and you have been listening to Breaking with Brett Jenson.
Hi Oh, Let's go hi Oh, Let's go oh.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Let's go oh the public, News Talk eleven ten and
ninety nine three and WBT Brett Jensen here with you
on this special Thursday night edition of Breaking with Brett Jensen,
as I come to you from Gastonia, North Carolina, pretty
much downtown Gastonia here on News Talk eleven ten in
(00:49):
ninety nine three.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
And we've got a special show for you tonight.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
And Michael Wattley, the former head of the NCGP, the
former head of the Republican National commit announced today that
he is running for US Senate on the Republican side
and looks to challenge Roy Cooper for the Senate seat.
And I will get into some of the things that
the Democrats are already putting out there, and so we'll
(01:15):
get into that later on. We'll get into that later on,
but first I want to play what was going on
with Michael Whitley when he made his announcement. He spoke
for about twenty minutes or so and to a crowd
of about one hundred people or so. It was more
or less invite only, and it was here in Gastonia,
which is where Michael Whiteley has lived since the late
(01:36):
nineties with his wife who was from Gastonia. So he
made his announcement. By the way, there was media there,
national media, there, tons of media from Raleigh, tons of
media from Winston Salem in Greensboro, and obviously Charlotte. So
here's brad Overcash North Klinta State Senator brad Overcash from
Gaston County introducing Michael Whitley, and then you'll hear the
(01:58):
beginning of Michael Whiteley's beach.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
So what you probably already know is that Michael Whiteley
is the most successful chairman the North Carolina Republican Party
has ever had. And that's based on every single metric
that a party could measure itself, election results, fundraising success
from Murphy Demanio. You probably also know that he is
(02:22):
the one that came in and helped President Trump in
his very first primary from the very first start to
secure a victory in North Carolina. You also know that
Michael Whiteley has been, by any measure, once again, the
greatest RNC chairman our country has ever had. We like
Chairman Whiteley so much and we praise him for all
(02:43):
he's achieved, But we love our neighbor and our friend
Michael Whiteley. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, let's give
a round of applause to our next United States Senator
from North Carolina, our chairman, Michael Whiteley.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
And I also want to thank President Trump, because without
his vision, without his leadership, without what he has done
over the last ten years to remake the Republican Party
into the party that is going to stand for every
family and every community all across the country, we would
not be sitting here today. You know, I became a
(03:27):
Republican on January twentieth, nineteen eighty one. I was a
twelve year old kid watching Ronald Reagan get sworn in
as our fortieth President of the United States, and all
of a sudden, the news coverage shifted over to the
fact that Iran was releasing fifty two hostages that had
(03:48):
been held for four hundred and forty four days. It
was a quick lesson that even a twelve year old
kid could pick up in peace through strength. I know
that North Carolina wants to see our economy do better,
more jobs created, safer communities, and a stronger military, and
(04:10):
so do I, which is why I am very proud
today to announce that with the complete and total endorsement
of President Donald Trump. I am running to be the
next Senator from the great state.
Speaker 6 (04:26):
Of North Carolina.
Speaker 5 (04:46):
Our campaign will be about North Carolina values. We will
fight for a strong economy, safe communities, and America that
is respected around the world. And we will win because
we will fight every single day for North Carolina and
the values that we hold so dear. I will work
relentlessly for every family and every community across our great state,
(05:12):
for every small business and every farm, for every soldier,
every veteran, and every military family in order to rebuild
our economy. I will fight for policies that will create
more jobs and higher wages, lower gasoline and grocery prices,
and lower taxes for every family. To keep our kids
(05:34):
in communities safe. I will fight to get rid of
sanctuary cities, and I will support the Trump administrations. I
will support the Trump Administration's efforts to deport violent, criminal
illegal aliens and keep the scourge of fentanyl out of
(05:54):
our communities, and every day I will back the Blue.
On September twenty seventh, twenty twenty four, Hurricane Helene ravaged
North Carolina, destroyed the western part of our state, destroyed
(06:15):
over seventy three thousand homes, killed one hundred and eight people,
unleashed seven billion dollars worth of economic damages to over
forty five thousand small businesses across the region. I was
fortunate to join President Trump on two trips to western
North Carolina, one in the immediate aftermath of the storm
(06:37):
and one right after he was sworn in for his
second term. It was the first trip that he took
of the second term, and while we were there, he
asked me if I would help to make sure that
the federal relief that the area needed would get there,
and that we would be able to get the debris
cleaned up, our cities rebuilt, in our peace will back
(07:00):
into their homes. Since that day, we've had a dramatic
improvement with a whole of government recovery effort which has
seen billions of dollars provided to affected homeowners, small businesses,
and local communities. A healthy, robust economy, safe kids and communities,
(07:21):
and a strong America. These are the North Carolina values
that I will champion every day. On the other hand,
Roy Cooper is offering North Carolina voters an extreme radical
left ideology, open borders, inflationary spending and a week America.
The Democrat Party that Roy Cooper will lead into the
(07:43):
elections is not the Democratic Party that we grew up with.
This is the party of Zoron Mamdani AOC, Jasmine Crockett,
Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, and Tim Walls. They want to
defund the police, get rid of ice, and keep violent, criminal,
(08:04):
illegal aliens from being deported. They fight harder for waste,
fraud and abuse than they do their constituents who are
paying our taxes. They fight for radical ideology in school
and boys and girls' sports rather than to protect our daughters.
Let's be clear. Roy Cooper may pretend to be different
(08:28):
from the radical extremists that run today's Democratic Party, but
he is all in on their agenda.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
So that is Michael Wyley.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
The first part when we come back, you're going to
hear him specifically talk about Roy Cooper and coming up
later on at the bottom of the hour, Michael Wattley's
only interview with a media outlet in North Carolina one
on one.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Or any interview.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
I got it, and we're going to be playing his
exclusive interview. You can only hear it on WBT, his
own only interview in the entire state moments after he
announced his candidacy. We'll be playing that coming up at
the bottom of the hour. Welcome back to Breaking with
(09:18):
Brett Jensen as I come to you live from Gastonia,
just across the street from Loray Mill, the old big
firestone plant which used to be the biggest plant in
the world. True story, And that's where Michael Wattlee announced
that he's running for US Senate. Earlier this afternoon. He
made his announcement sometime around three point thirty somewhere around
(09:40):
in that vicinity, and I was able to get some
interviews and coming up shortly in about ten or fifteen
minutes from now, you're gonna hear the only interview in
the entire state of North Carolina that Michael Wattley gave,
and it was to me moments after he gave his
speech announcing that he's running.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
So now here's you need to know.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
This is the part of the Michael Wantley speech where
he starts going after Roy Cooper and starts talking about
the differences between himself and Roy Cooper.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
In twenty twenty, when anti police riots broke out all
across the country, there was Roy Cooper marching through Raleigh
shoulder to shoulder with Antifa. In the General Assembly, Cooper
supported every tax hikes proposal that came to his desk
and ensured that North Carolina was the least competitive Southern state.
(10:35):
As governor, he opposed every tax cut that the Republican
legislature was passing in order to make sure that North
Carolina was going to be the number one state in
the country for businesses and families to move to. He
has never seen a dollar that he didn't want a
tax and he didn't want to spend. Cooper has had
(10:58):
opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to stand for common sense,
to get ideology woke ideology out of our schools and
boys out of girls' sports, and yet every single time
he has sided with the radical left against our daughters.
Cooper proudly hosted Joe Biden for a rally. You may
(11:21):
remember this in Raleigh the day after President Biden's disastrous
debate where he fell off the stage against Donald Trump.
Proclaimed to the world that Joe Biden was competent to
serve four more years, and then immediately after Biden pulled out,
he endorsed Kamala Harris. That was Roy Cooper, the governor
(11:44):
who has had to pretend that he was bipartisan. Can
you imagine him as a member of the Senate up
in Washington, d C. A Democrat run Senate led by
Chuck Schumer and Bernie Sanders. Roy Cooper has completely walked
away from the North Carolina values that we hold dear.
His agenda is designed to please donors in places like
(12:07):
San Francisco and Chicago and New York. My agenda is
designed to deliver results for the great people of Newburg
and Salisbury and Hendersonville. So, as we launch our campaign
for the Senate, North Carolina voters are looking at two
(12:30):
very different visions for our country. Roy Cooper has shown
us exactly what his vision for America is. Higher taxes,
dangerous streets, radical gender ideology, and a weaker America.
Speaker 7 (12:46):
I believe in a better.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
North Carolina and a stronger America. More money in your pocket,
safe communities, common sense, and a strong country. A better
state where you could buy a home, start a family,
See your kids do better than you have right here
in the old North State. I grew up blowing rock,
(13:16):
the middle class, son of an accountant and a library
I went to church, played sports, delivered newspapers, and mode lawns.
I worked multiple jobs to put myself through school, through
graduate school, and through law school. And I'm grateful for
the opportunities that North Carolina and America have given me
(13:38):
to go to work, to work hard, to build a career,
to get married, to raise an incredible family. These are
the values that I will take to the Senate with me.
I am honored that President Trump has asked me to
run for the Senate and offered me his complete and
total endorsement, and I am proud to stand with him
(14:08):
and fight every single day for every family and every community.
President Trump deserves an ally, and North Carolina deserves a
strong conservative voice in the Senate.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
I will be that voice.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
I am humble and excited to begin this campaign, and
I'm honored to ask for your support, for your vote,
for your prayers, for you to go right now to
widelyforsenate dot com and make a contribution. Together, we will
(14:52):
work every day across this great state, and we will
not stop until we're in a position to make North
Carolina a better, stronger, and safer community. And with every
vote that I cast in the United States Senate. You
have my promise that I will put North Carolina first.
Speaker 6 (15:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (15:22):
May God bless you, May God bless North Carolina, and
may God bless the United States of America.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 6 (15:30):
Let's go within this thing.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Okay, So a couple of things. Some people may be wondering, well,
how come you played like and by the way, real quick,
Whalley's speech was a lot longer than that. But I
did a lot of editing and just put some things
together and just cut out some parts and stuff like that,
so people shouldn't know that. Also, people are like or
may ask, well, how come you played you know, two
(16:15):
full segments of Michael Wattley And you're also getting ready
to do the only interview he gave in the state
of North Carolina coming up in about five or six minutes.
Why are you playing so much Wattley? Well, that's Roy
Cooper's fault. Roy Cooper gave a two and a half
or two minutes and forty five second video. That's what
(16:37):
he did, like his usual Melba toast, his usual rice cake,
just extremely bland and boring. That's what he put out there.
That's what he put out there. And I played his
two minutes and forty five seconds of his riveting video.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
I played it.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
And then what did Roy Cooper do the very next day?
I believe went on Rachel Maddow. Of course, someone who
teaches at Harvard would be going on Rachel Maddow. Of
course that tells you all you need to know. Didn't
do regular media media, ABC, CBS, Oh no, oh, no,
went to Rachel Maddow.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
Of course he did. So.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Michael Wattley had a big rally, or not a big round,
but just had a rally of invited people, had a
rally in Gastonia where he made his announcement in front
of his literal neighbors. And so that's why he gave
a big speech. I played all of Roy Cooper's It's
not my fault. It only took two minutes and forty
five seconds. I played it from beginning to end. So
(17:39):
that's a Cooper problem. And what do you think the
odds of Roy Cooper sitting down with me one on
one are? He wouldn't take my questions for fourteen straight
months during COVID, fourteen straight months that shot. Observer wrote
about it Associated Press. I believe the Roley News and
Observer and I think even seant Axios wrote about it
about how he would not take make my questions for
(18:01):
fourteen straight months.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
I just want you to think about that.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
So, hey, I played everything Roy Cooper put out there,
and so now I'm doing the exact same thing for
Michael Wattley.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
And when we return, you're gonna.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Hear my exclusive one on one sit down interview with
Michael Wattley six minutes seven minutes after, right, let me
take that back, ten minutes after he made his announcement
and finished his speech.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Ten minutes later, I'm sitting down with.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
Michael Wattley in the back corridors, sitting down and having
a one on one interview with him about him running
for Senate. The only interview he gave to anyone in
the entire state, it was me and Fox News. So
that's coming up next. Welcome back to Breaking with Brett
(18:57):
Jensen on this Thursday night. Seven four five, seven eleven.
Ten is the telephone number, and that is also the
text line. And you can, by the way, the text
line is always brought to you by Liberty Buick and
g g he s probably one more time Jensen, Liberty
Buick and gmc so in Gastonia is still in Gastonia,
(19:17):
right near downtown at the Loray Mill, which used to
be the old firestone plant, which was at one point
was the largest factory in the world, had more square
footage under one roof than any factory in the world.
And so anyways, that's where Michael Wattley announced earlier today
about three point thirty or so that he's running for
US Senate and we'll be going against Roy Cooper. Michael
(19:40):
Watley of course, has Donald Trump's endorsement.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Michael Wattley was.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
The head of the NCGP and then he became head
of the RNC and you know, he was very successful
at his position there. He got Donald Trump North Carolina
in twenty sixteen, twenty twenty, and twenty twenty four, and
he got also Ted budd in twenty twenty two, not
to mention a lot of other various things. So he's
(20:04):
been very very successful as running elections and helping out elections,
and now he's going to be running for an election
for the very first time himself. He's never ran for
office before, but obviously he knows the inner workings of
politics and congressmen and senators and state senators and local
represent local reps. He was the head used to be
(20:24):
the vice chair of the Gaston GOP back what some
twenty five years ago, So he knows politics inside and out.
So after he made his announcement front of one hundred
or so people, he then and did a quick live
interview with Fox News, and then shortly after that he
sat down with me for about five minutes or so.
(20:46):
And it's the only interview to any media outlet in
the state of North Carolina, and the only place you
can hear it is right here on WBT. You and
I last spoke during the first week in June at
the NCGP convention. If you'd given a fiery speech, and
I asked you then, had you ever thought about running
for any particular office, because that was the hot rumor.
(21:07):
Then here we are almost two months later, and now
you're running for Senate. What was going on between the
time we spoke in June to where we are today.
Speaker 5 (21:16):
Well, I think ultimately it was that Senator Tillis decided
that he was not going to run for reelect, and
so you know, the conversations that I had with the
President and others really kind of led us to believe
that I was in a great position to be able
to step into this race and be able to win it.
And I think that, you know, it's an honor obviously
to have President Trump endorse me for the race. You know,
(21:38):
for him to call and and suggest that that we
take a hard look at it makes a tremendous difference.
I mean, it really does. But you know, we're in
it because we need a solid conservative in the Senate.
President Trump needs a solid ally in the Senate, and
we're going to win this thing.
Speaker 4 (21:55):
Governor McCoy used to say all the time when someone
runs for office, it's not just that person, it's the
entire family that's running for office. And you know, it
takes a toll in the family. So when you approach
the subject of possibly doing this with your wife, what
was the reaction.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
Well, you know, she is fully on board and she
completely supports, you know, and we avoided running for office
while we had our kids at school and our kids
were at home. But now with all of them in school,
that was a different conversation. And she's in and all
of the kids are in, and everybody's very excited.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
Speaking with US Senate candidate Michael Waltley, who had now
said he's running for Senate today. Okay, So if I
say the name Woy Cooper, what comes to mind?
Speaker 5 (22:33):
You know, somebody who has fought against the values of
North Carolina consistently as a legislator, as an attorney general,
and as a governor. And I think that he is
a radical. He is an extremist, and I think that
nobody has really taken the time and effort to kind
of call him out on that. And we're going to
have that conversation over the next fifteen months.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
People are talking about this being the most expensive Senate
race in US history. Do you think that's an accurate assessment?
What do you think it's going to cost?
Speaker 5 (23:01):
You know, I think it's going to be the most
expensive Senate race in history. I do think that we're
looking at probably five six hundred million dollars that would
be spent all in. We are certainly going to make
sure that we hit our marks in terms of the
money we need to raise into the campaign. So we're excited, though.
I think every single day we're going to see opportunities
to gather support and see where it comes from around
(23:23):
the country and around North Carolina.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
We've done a lot of interviews over the last several years.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
But who's Michael Waltley.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
You know, Michael Wadley is a kid that grew up
in Blowing Rock. I am a middle class son of
an accountant and a lawyer. And I'm a kid who
has always worked. I put myself through college. I have
been able to live the American dream, you know, through
hard work and opportunities. I'm a guy who's helped a
lot of people win a lot of elections over the years.
The North Carolina Party chair and is the R and
(23:50):
C chair, and I am somebody who is absolutely committed
to North Carolina.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Now that you're not in charge of fair elections, how
are you going to make sure that there are fair elections?
Speaker 5 (23:59):
Well, look, we know what we're doing here in North Carolina.
I think the state party has done a fantastic job
of that since the time I was chair. Jason Simmons,
who's the chair right now, I feel very comfortable that
they will have a program. The RNC is going to
continue their national program. That is something that is very
important to the president. It's very important to me. You know,
(24:19):
I'll be stepping down as the R and C chair
in August, but I have no doubt that they will
continue to fund those types of efforts.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
You grew up in Blowing Rock, you went to school
at UNCC before getting your law degree, and you've lived
in Gastonia since the late nineties.
Speaker 7 (24:33):
Was there ever a doubt that you.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
Would make your announcement in Gastonia?
Speaker 6 (24:36):
No.
Speaker 5 (24:36):
I mean as soon as soon as we had that
conversation with the President decided that we were going to go,
there was no question about doing this at home. Gaston
County has been an amazing place for me. Blowing Rock
was an amazing place for me. I love North Carolina,
but you want to be at home.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Take me behind the scenes with the conversation with President Trump.
What was that like when you were having discussions with
him about potentially running for senate or when you finally said,
you know what, we are going to run for senate.
Can you take us byd the scenes?
Speaker 5 (25:03):
Well, look, it was a fairly brief conversation.
Speaker 7 (25:05):
You know.
Speaker 5 (25:05):
He called it and he said, hey, look, you know,
we think that you're the best guy for this race.
I certainly think that you need to give it very
serious consideration, and if you do it, we'll be all
in for you.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
All right.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
So, last question, and I'd like to end every interview
the same way, and just like we did in June,
is there anything that you want to say to the
voters of North Carolina and everyone listening right now.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
Look, I am very excited about this race. I'm very
excited about running for US Senate, but more importantly, I'm
very excited about winning this race. And I want to
be a Senator who is going to fight for every family,
for every community, for every farm, for every small business
all across North Carolina. I think it is absolutely critical
for us to have a voice in the Senate that
(25:45):
is going to be a strong conservative voice and represent
every county all across the state.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
Michael Walley declaring for US Senate today, I really appreciate
your time.
Speaker 5 (25:54):
It's good to see you, sir.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
So that is the exclusive interview with Michael wats that
you're not going to hear anywhere else anywhere, I mean
in this entire state.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
And so again, thank you to him.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
You know, I found out Sunday that he was going
to announce today this afternoon in Gastonia. And I found
this out on Sunday and I immediately before anyone else
started working up, you know, trying to work the pipeline,
if you will, to try see if we can't set
up an interview, like he's been on WBT many times.
(26:29):
Last week Friday he was on with Brett Warnable and
everyone was anxious to see what he had to say
on the Brett Winnables Show because the report had just
dropped twenty four hours earlier that he was going to
announce his run for Senate this week. And so you know,
I I you know, and I've interviewed Michael Wattley many, many,
many times when he was the head of the NCGP
(26:50):
as well as head of the RNC and so you know,
he knows me, and he knows our station, and he's
from here, and he grew up no I mean not
grow up, excuse, but we moved here in the late nineties.
You know, he knew about WBT and he knows about WBT,
and so he and his people thankfully and gratefully allowed
(27:13):
us or allowed me to do a sit down, one
on one interview with Michael Watley.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Like I said, it was about ten.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
Minutes or so after he finished speaking, after he did
his one national interview, and then I got his only
local interview, and so I was extremely appreciative of that.
So when we come back, you're gonna hear from North
Kunta State Senator brad Overcash and North Kunta State Legislator
Donnie Loftus. They both represent Gaston County, and I want
(27:40):
to talk to them about Michael Wattley the person, and
I also wanted to talk to them about you know,
what does this mean to have someone from Gastonia running
for US Senate and specifically against Roy Cooper. So well,
here are those interviews when we return.
Speaker 7 (28:05):
I am still living with your goals.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
Welcome back to Breaking with Brett Jensen this Thursday night,
as I come to you live from Gastonia, where Michael
Way less than three hours ago announced that he's running
for US Senate on the Republican side, and we'll be
going against Roy Cooper.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
We'll be going against Roy Cooper.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
By the way, here's the reaction before we get to
the interviews at with some state reps and a state center.
So the head or the Democratic Senate Committee put out
an email, Roy Cooper put out an email, and the
North Carolina Democrat Party put out an email, all nearly
(28:50):
in succession from three different entities, and all three said
the exact same thing.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
All three.
Speaker 4 (28:58):
Their big, big back of Michael Wattley is that and
I'm using a quote, a direct quote here, a lobbyist
for big oil.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
But that's all you got. I mean, if.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
They have known this for over a week, that it
was Michael Wattley, and they probably had stuff for going back,
you know, at least a month where they had stuff,
possibly with Pat Harrigan or possibly with Laura Trump or
so they were doing the recon on all of this,
and that's what you got. The big bashing was that
he was part of Trump Maga and he used to
(29:37):
be a lobbyist for big oil.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Okay, good luck with that one. Let me see, let
me know how long that one plays out. All right.
So here's my interview with Donnie loft Is.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
He's a North Kinta state legislator out of Gaston County
and he was there today and I wanted to talk
to him about this whole Michael Watley situation, considering Michael
Wattley lives in Gastonia. So moments ago, Michael Wally announced
that he's running for Senate and it's going to be
(30:06):
challenging against Roy Cooper. So what were your thoughts when
you first heard that it was going to be Michael Walley.
Speaker 8 (30:13):
I was just astonished, but extremely happy because here's a
credible person that could carry the conservative banner for Republicans
in North Carolina.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
Now you are a representative with from Gaston County, So
what does it? Does it give any extra meaning or
boost to you because he is from Gastonian and still
lives in Gastonia.
Speaker 8 (30:34):
One of the things I think it ties to is
the rich heritage of Gaston County, the textile industry before NAFTA, KAFTA,
all those different things impacted our community losing twenty five
thousand jobs. It is here at the Firestone Mill, which
at one time was the largest textile meal in the
whole world. So I think it gives him that rich
(30:56):
heritage of we show up for work every day, where
the average there's Joe and Sally who makes America run.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
A lot of excitement. But these are his people, these
are his neighbors.
Speaker 4 (31:06):
What do you think the reaction will be statewide?
Speaker 8 (31:10):
I think him being previously the NCGP chair that gives.
Speaker 7 (31:14):
Him a lot of credibility.
Speaker 8 (31:16):
He's known in all one hundred counties and then to
be elevated to the national chair. That gives him credibility
across the United States in fundraising, which is going to
be critical in this race.
Speaker 3 (31:29):
I'm glad you brought that up.
Speaker 4 (31:30):
And speak with Donny Loftus's North Countin legislator out of
Gaston County. They're talking about the most expensive center race
in the history of America. And you know five billion,
seven hundred and fifty billion they're talking about could be spent.
So what does that say to you that there's that
expensive of a race and that highly contested of a race.
Speaker 8 (31:50):
It shows me that the fine line in the Senate
between Republicans and Democrats are that close that everybody wants
to win on on either side, and they're willing to
put up the funding to do millers, to do tv ads,
to do the things you have to do to get
your message to eleven million, three hundred thousand people in
(32:12):
North Carolina.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
Now, if I say the two names or the name
Roy Cooper, what comes to mind?
Speaker 7 (32:18):
As a representative.
Speaker 8 (32:19):
Since twenty twenty one, I have twenty nine veto overrides
in my desk drawer in Raleigh that we voted to
do a lot of things to impact North Carolina in
a very positive but conservative manner. That's the first thing
that comes to mid twenty nine vetos. And then we
have the eight hundred and eighty eight days of COVID
(32:40):
where the emergency order impacted closing everybody but churches.
Speaker 7 (32:46):
At church, you couldn't go to church.
Speaker 8 (32:47):
But you could go to Walmart, you could go to
a bar, you could go anywhere, but the church didn't
play a significant role. So those are the two biggest things.
Eight hundred and eighty eight days. The legislative body changed that.
That will never happen again.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
Donnie Lotchen's representative out of Gaston County. I really appreciate
your time today, absolutely, any Tom Okay, clearly, real quick.
I said five hundred billion and seven hundred and fifty billion.
Clearly I meant five hundred million in seven hundred and
fifty million.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (33:16):
So now here is State Senator Brad Overcash who actually
introduced Wally at the big gathering today. So he was
the one that you know you heard him earlier introducing Wally. Well,
here's my one on one interview with North County State
Senator Brad Overcash. You're from Gaston County. Michael Wattley has
lived in Gaston County Gastoni since nineteen ninety eight.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
You have worked very close with with.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
Him over the last several years, So what are your
thoughts about him running for senator.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
I'm so excited that he's doing this. Michael Wattley is
a winner. He has succeeded and won for the people
in North Carolina at every stop he's made and getting
and having him serve as our candidate, our nominee for
US Senate insures that we're going to win this thing.
Speaker 4 (33:58):
You knew him personally. What do people not know about
Michael Wally?
Speaker 1 (34:02):
He is a dedicated person. Everything he undertakes, whether it's
with his family, whether it's with his church, the community,
party work, political office, his business. He is a dedicated person.
Speaker 7 (34:18):
That is that that is.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
Just tireless speaking with the north kind of state Senator
of brad overcash out of Gaston County. If I say
the name Roy Cooper, what comes to your mind?
Speaker 1 (34:32):
We spent the entire session last session having to deal
with veto overrides because Roy Cooper couldn't bring himself to
protect our daughters and keep men out of women's sports.
He couldn't bring himself to support legislation that would stop
(34:53):
sex change surgeries, et cetera. A lot of folks he's
going to want to put the image out that he's
from Rocky, that he's an eastern North Carolina Democrat, but
his record as governor just is.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
The opposite of that.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
He is a left wing, committed liberal.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
When he announced one of those big press releases, and
Chuck Schumer even made mention of it, was that under
Roy Cooper the state had a balanced budget his entire time.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
Isn't that state law?
Speaker 1 (35:22):
It is state law, and he had nothing to do
with that. I can assure you the Republicans and the
General Assembly are the reason and the hard working people
of North Carolina are the reason that North Carolina is
the number one state to do business. It certainly was
not because of Roy Cooper, and in fact, it was
in spite of Roy Cooper's best efforts otherwise.
Speaker 4 (35:42):
So one last question about Roy Cooper. You were, you know,
you've been in rally firsthand, having to deal with the
funding and everything else. What can you talk about his
shortcomings if there were any with Western North Carolina.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
Well, I think you have to go back beyond Western
North Carolina. I think you have to to look and
I don't believe anyone says that the response to the
hurricanes in the East, we're still dealing with that, we
still have people in temporary in temporary housing, and that
was all Roy Cooper and the lack of an appropriate response.
(36:16):
You know, I think I think Helene in Western North Carolina.
All I can say is thank God Michael Whiteley was
appointed by the President to lead those efforts over there,
and that's what's getting Western North Carolina back on track,
along with our great Christian and faith groups and the good,
hard working people of Western North Carolina, certainly not Roy Cooper.
Speaker 4 (36:34):
So let's get back real quick to Michael Watley was
peaking with brad over Cashi sty Centator out of Gaston County.
So when people go into the ballot box in November
next year. In November, when they go into the ballot box,
what should people remember and when trying to decide who
to vote for.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
He's a North Carolina son that shares the hard the
same values that hard working North Carolinians do. He's not
going up there for Hubris, He's not going up there
for for his own self. Aggrandizement. He's going up there
to fight for those good hard work in North Carolinians
and the values that we all hold.
Speaker 4 (37:07):
Dating Bright Overcash today, Centaer, I really appreciate your time today.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
Thank you for I appreciate it all right.
Speaker 4 (37:13):
So a lot to unpack there today. And if you
missed any part of today's show, and it was a
very full one, go to WBT dot com, click on
the menu the podcast section and you'll see Breaking with
Brett Jensen. You'll hear Michael Wattley's speech where he made
his announcement, the exclusive only place in the entire state
that you'll hear his one on one exclusive interview with
(37:34):
uh that he sat down with me moments after his announcement,
then obviously again with Donnie Loft's state representative, and then
the state Senator Bret Overcash for joining me also.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
So that's going to do it for us tonight.
Speaker 4 (37:45):
Make sure you stick around for tomorrow because we got
another big show for you plan tomorrow night. So for
everyone here in Gaston County, my name is Brett Jensen,
and you have been listening to Breaking with Brett Jenson.
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