(WGHP) — Gov. Roy Cooper is no longer being considered as a potential running mate with Vice President Kamala Harris after withdrawing himself from the sweepstakes, according to the New York Times.
Cooper was believed to be among six people the Harris campaign was looking at as top candidates to join her presidential run.
At this time, it is not clear why he chose to remove himself from consideration.
However, Cooper later said on X that it wasn’t the right time for him and for North Carolina.
Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program recently, Cooper said he spoke with Harris as Democrats coalesced around her in the wake of President Joe Biden’s historic decision to drop out of the presidential race.
“We understand you had a conversation with the vice president yesterday as well. How did that go?” Mika Brzezinski asked Cooper.
“It went great,” Cooper said. “We talked about winning this race. … This is a bottom-up type of thing, Mika. I think Kamala Harris soon is going to be in a position where she can really take off, and I’m excited about it and feel confident that she can win this presidency. So the excitement is certainly showing itself up in dollars and cents.”
Cooper elaborated on the winning qualities he believes Harris has and emphasized the 59-year-old vice president’s youth relative to 78-year-old former President Donald Trump at multiple points in the interview.
“She is relatively young and strong and vigorous,” he said. “Donald Trump is old and forgetful, and she’s going to be able to make that contrast. She also has credentials of serving as attorney general, protecting consumers. She’s the protector of consumers, while Donald Trump is the con man. There’s so many ways that Vice President Harris can show that she can be president of this country.”
“Donald Trump wants an America where it’s easier to get an assault weapon than it is to get healthcare,” Cooper said. “So we need to bring all of these issues to the forefront. I believe she is the person to do it. She has really been hitting her stride over the last couple of years. She’s ready to run this.”
North Carolina
The topic of conversation turned from the national races to North Carolina with Cooper all too happy to share his thoughts on some of the big races happening at home.
Cooper said he believes that the shift away from Biden and towards Harris will have a significant impact on how the state may vote.
“I am really excited that not only can she win North Carolina, but she can help us with these other important races in our state,” he said. “Like Josh Stein’s governor’s race and Jeff Jackson’s attorney general’s race and Mo Green, who’s running for our superintendent of public instruction in North Carolina, for our public schools.”
He described the opponents in these races as extreme “MAGA” candidates and said that this isn’t who North Carolina is.
Attorney General Josh Stein is in an expensive and heated race against the sitting lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, a Republican firebrand known for intense rhetoric. U.S. Senator Jeff Jackson (D-District 14) is up against U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-District 8) for Cooper’s old position as attorney general, and former Guilford County Schools superintendent Mo Green is up against Michele Morrow, who defeated incumbent Republican Catherine Truitt in the primaries for the state superintendent race and has a history of sharing conspiracy theories.
Cooper also touted the Biden-Harris administration’s victories in North Carolina, praising them for their contributions to the replacement of a vital bridge in Wilmington, Medicare expansion and high-speed internet.
