The four years of Joe Biden's presidency and the coordinated media/Democrat cover-up of his obvious health decline have naturally caused more voters to ask questions of and about older candidates for public office on issues not only related to their health but also to their ability to serve out a full term.

Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, the Democrat nominee for Senate, turned 69 in June. If he wins in November and serves out the full six years of the Senate term, he'll be 75 and a half years old. Throughout his U.S. Senate campaign, some critics, including the NRSC and his GOP opponent, former RNC Chairman Michael Whatley, have accused Cooper's team of basically running a "basement" campaign similar to what Joe Biden did in 2020, where things appear to be heavily directed/stage-managed, and with interactions with the press and the public limited. 

It's been a persistent allegation, thanks in part to the seemingly carefully crafted public appearances, scarcity of interviews, and in part to the handlers who do weird things to try and prevent Cooper from being asked random, unscripted questions that he may not like.

Back in September of 2025, I was asking, "Where is Roy Cooper?" because, despite having declared his Senate candidacy in late July of 2025, he had strangely been mostly silent for weeks after the brutal mid-August murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, a case that drew a lot of national attention but which Cooper remained quiet on until I guess his campaign felt ready for him to talk about it - which was pretty much after President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Whatley, and others had already weighed in.

With all of that in mind, we turn to a recent development in the NC Senate race involving questions that were sent to Cooper's campaign by North State Journal (NSJ)*, a statewide newspaper, regarding his health. Apparently, the questions didn't go over too well, with a cease-and-desist letter being sent back in response:

Recommended
Ilhan Omar's Husband Is Confronted on Expanding Federal Probe. His Response Is Eyebrow-Raising. Kyle Becker A Rare Day at SCOTUS As Gorsuch and Sotomayor Team Up to Blast Immigration Case Kyle Becker

...North State Journal asked former Gov. Roy Cooper’s Senate campaign if he was committed to fulfilling his six-year term if elected in November and if there were any health problems that might impede him. Cooper is 69 years old.

North State Journal (NSJ) has previously emailed questions to the campaign eight times this year, and all but two went unanswered. The ninth time, NSJ received a cease-and-desist letter threatening legal action from the Elias Law Group. The newspaper received that reply within about five and half hours of sending our questions.

The letter was... something else. Here are some of the highlights (lowlights):

We write as counsel to Governor Roy Cooper and Roy Cooper for North Carolina, his principal campaign committee, regarding your inquiry earlier today, which we re-post below: 

Our outlet is seeking a [sic] to clarify Mr. Cooper’s position on whether he intends to complete the entire term should he be elected to the US Senate in November. 

Additionally, we wanted to see if the campaign can confirm or deny if Mr. Cooper has health issues, as sources have told us he has been experiencing a neurological issue. 

Let us make this exceedingly simple and crystal clear to you: Governor Cooper intends to complete his entire term, and any suggestion that he is “experiencing a neurological issue,” or that any health condition would prevent him from completing his term, is categorically false and defamatory. This letter places the North State Journal on notice of these facts. If it publishes such false and defamatory statements, it will be acting with knowledge of their falsity or, at a minimum, with reckless disregard for the truth—the definition of actual malice. See N.Y. Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 279–80 (1964). Should the North State Journal publish these falsehoods in its plain pursuit of online clicks and a political hatchet job, it will be sued.

Suffice it to say that the report of the letter that was sent to the NSJ did not land well:

We see this issue come up from time to time with elected officials and candidates for public office, where similar letters are sent to media outlets. The outlets then turn around and report on the correspondence. What does it usually lead to? Even more speculation by voters on social media and beyond. In other words, it has the net effect of backfiring, which is exactly what happened here.

*Full Disclosure: I write a once-a-week column for North State Journal and have no say in operations or communications, nor am I a spokesperson.