As protesters chant outside his Lake Norman office, new Rep. Tim Moore touts Elon Musk
About 100 north Mecklenburg Democrats protested on the steps of Cornelius Town Hall Thursday, as Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Moore cut a ceremonial ribbon inside the building for one of his six congressional district offices.
The offices will serve “folks who voted for me, folks who didn’t vote for me,” Moore told an audience of officials inside as chants by protesters outside could faintly be heard in the room.
“And if you want to protest or whatever, that’s fine,” Moore said. “But at the end of the day, these offices will try to help people, whether it’s the VA, immigration, you name it.”
“There will be times we agree, there will be times we disagree,” Moore said. “And that’s OK, because at the end of the day, this is about getting the people’s business done, getting that voice in Washington.”
‘Right now, we’re losing our country’
Protesters chanted slogans such as, “Show me what Democracy looks like, this is what Democracy looks like,” and received occasional honks of support from drivers on Catawba Avenue.
They held placards that said Moore’s 14th District had been gerrymandered for him. “Gerrymandering is not American,” one placard read.
Others said: “Your Oath is to the Constitution, not Trump/Musk,” and “Putin is a Pariah, Not a Partner.”
“This is a very red town, and it’s so red that people are afraid to say they’re Democrats,” Charmaine Nephew, coordinator of the Cornelius Democrats, told The Charlotte Observer. “We’ve just been putting people together, to meet like-minded people to fight for democracy.
“Because right now, we’re losing our country, we’re losing our rights,” she said. “Every day, another right is taken away. I’m 71 years old, and before you know it, I’m going to have no Medicare, no Social Security. I probably could get by without it, but what about all the poor people who can’t?
“This is a very segregated town, and it’s all for what’s best for the rich,” Nephew said. “It’s a wealthy town, and if you’re not wealthy, you can’t live here.”
Cornelius resident Michael Devoney, chair of Democrats of North Mecklenburg, said protesters were calling out Moore and his fellow Republicans for what he said were their anti-democratic measures.
“Voter suppression, voter regulation, voter identification and gerrymandering mean we’re not halfway to democratic rule,” Devoney said.
Gerrymandering “really takes away your right to vote,” protester Jon Boggiano of Cornelius said.
‘Putin needs to be stopped,’ Moore says
The gerrymandering claims “are an insult to the voters of this district,” Moore told the Observer in an interview after the ribbon cutting. “Because the last time I checked, I had to run through a primary, and I had to run through a general election, and the voters decided.”
Gerrymandering doesn’t relate to the choice of voters, but rather to district lines that are drawn by state lawmakers seeking to help their party win elections.
Moore, a former state House speaker from Cleveland County, represents North Carolina’s 14th congressional district, which was previously represented by Jeff Jackson, a Democrat who successfully ran for state attorney general after congressional district lines were redrawn and made the district more friendly to Republicans.
The district now includes parts of Mecklenburg and Polk counties, and Gaston, Cleveland, Rutherford and Burke counties.
Regarding the protesters, Moore said, “I respect anyone’s right to protest and taking the time to come out on a little bit of a cold day and express their opinions.
“But you know, where I stand on the issues is pretty clear. One thing folks will find is I’ve been in office 22 years, and I state my position and stand by it.”
Moore entered Town Hall through a rear entrance and did not speak to the protesters.
Moore also told the Observer that he personally traveled to Ukraine about two years ago and “saw this terrible aggression by Russia. It’s awful, and I think Vladimir Putin needs to be stopped in his acts of aggression, and I believe that firmly.”
He said he doesn’t believe that President Donald Trump sides with Putin in the conflict.
“If you’re going to help strike a deal between adversaries, you have to be able to talk to both of them, which means you can’t go in the room and yell at them that they’re a murderer,” Moore said. “You either reach it amicably or through elevated war. And I don’t want to see American soldiers fighting over this.”
This week Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator” and “modestly successful comedian” and falsely claimed Ukraine started the war with Russia even though Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, The Associated Press reported.
As for Trump appointing Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, to run the new Department of Government Efficiency, Moore said:
“Elon Musk is one of the smartest, most successful men in the world right now. When a person of that caliber is willing to, for no cost whatsoever, find ways to save money, we ought to welcome that.”
And Musk is now “subject to the same confidentiality rules and laws as anyone in government,” Moore said.
“Billions of dollars are being just thrown away,” Moore said. “We don’t need to let that happen. When I hear stories that we’re sending things to Gaza or other countries that are questionable anyway, and I hear folks here in North Carolina being denied housing, it makes my blood boil.”
This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 5:00 AM.