Donald Trump invokes 1988 Willie Horton ad in North Carolina rally

During a campaign rally in Gastonia, North Carolina, President Donald Trump invoked the controversial 1988 Willie Horton campaign advertisement to criticize Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper. Trump used the reference to argue that Cooper is soft on crime, comparing the historical case of Horton—a Black man convicted of rape and assault who escaped during a Massachusetts prison furlough program—to a recent murder case in Charlotte involving a Black man charged with killing a Ukrainian refugee.

The Willie Horton case became a central and highly controversial element of George H. W. Bush’s 1988 presidential campaign against then-Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. Critics at the time argued the advertisements exploited racial fears regarding Black criminality. This marks the second time in recent weeks that Trump has referenced Horton, having previously used the name during a speech in Las Vegas to describe a recent crime in Charlotte.