RNC Chair Michael Whatley speaks at CPAC 2025 in National Harbor, Maryland. Photograph: Gage Skidmore
A candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump was buried in derision Friday over a glaring error in his Sept. 11 memorial message.
Michael Whatley vowed "we will never forget" in a social media post that included an image of the 9/11 memorial in New York City and an eyebrow-raising date: Sept. 1, 2001
"We remember the lives taken, the first responders who rushed into danger, and a nation that came together in the face of tragedy," Whatley posted. "God bless America."
Whatley appears to have deleted the post and reposted the same image and statements – along with the correct date – but the earlier post was captured by journalist Aaron Rupar and circulated on X.
"Bang up work from the @WhatleyNC campaign!" Rupar posted to his followers.
Social media users shamed Whatley, who's trailing Democrat Roy Cooper by 11 points in recent polling.
"He forgot," replied popular X user Nichole Remmert.
"Michael Whatley just commemorated 9/11 by getting the date wrong," marveled the American Bridge 21st Century account.
"Caught before he deleted/reposted," claimed Young Democrats of NC. "Just unbelievably lazy and disrespectful to all who were lost and impacted on 9/11."
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