WASHINGTON, D.C. – With the coronavirus continuing to rage across the country and millions of Americans out of work, President Donald Trump spent the Independence Day weekend playing up a culture war.

But with months to go until election day, how will that be received in North Carolina? One political expert says while it could appeal to the president’s base, it could also turn off key voters.

Over the weekend, Trump marked the July Fourth holiday at the steps of Mount Rushmore and on the White House lawn. During his remarks, he took aim at what he described as the “radical left” and the protesters who took down monuments.

“We will never allow an angry mob to tear down our statues, erase our history, indoctrinate our children, or trample on our freedoms,” he said.

He followed up on the speeches with a tweet on Monday morning, in which he blasted NASCAR’s decision to ban the Confederate flag, claiming – inaccurately – that the move contributed to the “lowest ratings ever.”

Prof. Michael Bitzer, who teaches politics at Catawba College, says President Trump is “doubling down on the American carnage idea” mentioned in his inaugural address.


He said Trump is brandishing a classic Republican strategy that dates back to the 1960s: the so-called "southern strategy."

“It used to be very much a code word kind of strategy – Reagan’s welfare queens, those kind of things – but this has become much more a hot-button issue. And the president has decided to make a very clear stance,” Bitzer says.

But will the president find a receptive audience in North Carolina, which is a battleground in this fall’s election? That is not clear cut.

Bitzer says the president’s words certainly play to his base, but they could end up turning off more moderate, suburban voters that could play an important role when it comes to his chances in the Tar Heel State.

Further complicating matters: like in other regions of the south, the demographics of North Carolina are changing.

“The in-migration of non-natives into the state, along with the younger generations – Millennials, Gen Z’ers – are really reshaping the state,” Bitzer says. “The Republican Party has to be careful that they’re not basically throwing away a generational cohort for a one-time strategy.”

RELATED: Battleground 2020: North Carolina Demographics 

In his Monday tweet, the president also took aim at Bubba Wallace, the lone black top-tier NASCAR driver, suggesting he owes his fellow drivers an apology over the investigation of an apparent noose found in his garage. The FBI found that the rope had been there since at least last year and there was no hate crime.

Wallace responded to the president’s tweet Monday afternoon, saying in a statement that it is best to respond to hate with love “even when it’s hate from the POTUS.”