Democratic North Carolina governor says voters have ‘stark choice’ between Biden, Trump

Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Sunday framed the 2024 presidential election as a “stark choice” between President Biden and former President Trump.

In an interview on MSNBC’s “The Weekend,” Cooper said Trump’s strong performance in the South Carolina primary on Saturday should make clear to voters they should expect a rematch in the general election.

“This is going to be a Biden-Trump rematch. And I don’t think a lot of people have wrapped their minds around that. But the choice is going to be, that do you want a president who wakes up every morning thinking about the American people? Or do you want a president who wakes up every morning thinking about himself? And that is going to be the stark choice,” Cooper said.

“But you see from last night that Donald Trump has an iron grip on this Republican Party,” Cooper said about the South Carolina primary results. “And there is going to be a stark choice in November.”

Trump won the Republican primary on Saturday by more than 20 points — 59.8 percent of voters supported Trump, while 39.5 percent supported his primary opponent, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, according to Decision Desk HQ’s election results tracker.

While the South Carolina electorate has long been among Trump’s most loyal support bases, Haley had hoped to find some momentum among voters who helped launch her political career.

Cooper pointed to the election results, urging Democrats to anticipate a head-to-head rematch between Biden and Trump and remind voters of Biden’s policy achievements at the start of his term.

“Joe Biden’s experience, he did more his first two years than most presidents could hope to do in two terms. Almost 15 million jobs in the first two years … Fighting prescription drug costs. We’re seeing inflation coming down now,” he said.

“And what we need to do as Democrats is to let the American people know about these things, make sure that they understand why their high-speed internet is going to get connected, why the water system in rural Sampson County, North Carolina — a community that had been forgotten — now people with tears running down their cheeks are finally going to get clean water and not have to boil it. How almost 600,000 people in North Carolina are going to get health care now because we’ve expanded Medicaid in North Carolina and got a Republican legislature to do it,” Cooper added.

“Those are the things that are so exciting that are going to matter to everyday people. And I don’t think everyday people are talking about what we’re talking about, not talking about the politics of this, and aren’t really aware of it, I don’t think. Many of them aren’t.”