A North Carolina pastor with two prior child-sex convictions stood before a crowd of Republican voters and asked God to bring “integrity and honesty” to the room.
Quick Take
- Pastor Daimon L. King led the opening prayer at an Aug. 28 rally for Senate nominee Michael Whatley in Craven County, North Carolina.
- State and court records show King is a registered sex offender, twice sentenced to prison for crimes involving children.
- King says the Craven County Republican Party invited him to speak that day.
- After the event, King said he and his church “fully support and are behind” Whatley’s campaign.
What Happened At The Craven County Rally
The rally took place on Aug. 28 in Craven County, a stop on Michael Whatley’s campaign trail for the open North Carolina Senate seat. King, who leads New Beginnings Celebration church in New Bern, opened the event with a prayer. Associated Press reporting quoted him asking God to grant the gathering “integrity and honesty” before the speeches began.
That word choice landed differently once King’s background became public. Court and state records show he was sentenced to prison twice for offenses involving children, and he remains on the sex offender registry. Reporters did not dig up old rumors here. These are documented convictions tied to a man handed a microphone at a political rally meant to project trust and family values.
Who Put Him On The Stage
King told reporters the hosts invited him, and he named the Craven County Republican Party as the group behind the booking. That detail matters. A county party organization, not a random volunteer, appears to have selected who would open a Senate campaign event with prayer. Whether anyone checked his record beforehand has not been addressed publicly by the party or the Whatley campaign.
No statement from Whatley or his committee has surfaced explaining how King was chosen or whether staff knew his history in advance. That silence leaves the Associated Press account standing alone as the public record of what happened that day. Voters weighing a Senate race deserve a direct answer, not a shrug, when a candidate’s own rally raises a question like this one.
King’s Own Response After The Story Broke
Once the story spread, King did not distance himself from the campaign. He wrote publicly that he and his church “fully support and are behind” Whatley. That statement suggests King views his role at the rally as a continuing endorsement, not a one-time appearance he regrets. It also means the association between his church and the campaign remains active in his own words.
For a party that has spent years arguing it stands for accountability and protecting children, a moment like this deserves more than silence from the campaign. Conservative voters have every right to ask who vetted this invitation and why the answer has not come faster. Trust is earned through transparency, not through hoping a wire story fades from the news cycle.
Why This Story Spread So Fast
The Associated Press report ran on Sept. 11 and was quickly picked up by local television stations and syndicated across other outlets. Stories that combine a political rally, religious language, and a hidden criminal record tend to travel fast because they are easy to summarize in one sentence. That does not make the underlying facts any less real. King did lead the prayer, and his convictions are on the record.
Researchers who study political scandals note that coverage volume often tracks the prominence of those involved more than the severity of the underlying facts. That pattern fits here. A Senate nominee’s rally, a prayer about honesty, and a twice-convicted offender at the microphone created a story too pointed for outlets to ignore, regardless of how the campaign or county party eventually responds.
AP: Convicted sex offender offered opening prayer at rally for GOP Senate nominee in North Carolina
A pastor kicked off a recent campaign stop for Michael Whatley, the Republican nominee for Senate, with a prayer that asked God to bestow “integrity and honesty” upon the event…
— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) September 11, 2026
What remains clear is the sequence of events themselves: King prayed, his record is public, and the party that invited him has been named. The open questions now sit with the campaign and the county Republican Party, who have yet to explain their vetting process on the record.
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