North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is no longer in the running to be Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate this election season.

The governor confirmed the news in a statement on X. The New York Times broke the story on Monday evening, reporting that Cooper informed Harris’ team about his decision to withdraw. 

It was originally unclear what caused the decision, but Cooper said in a statement released on Monday evening that it “wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me.”

“I strongly support Vice President Harris’ campaign for President,” Cooper’s statement read. “I know she’s going to win and I was honored to be considered for this role.

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“This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket,” the North Carolina Democrat added. “As I’ve said from the beginning, she has an outstanding list of people from which to choose, and we’ll all work to make sure she wins.”

Cooper was considered a top contender among Harris’ potential running mates in recent days. After President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and Harris began running her campaign, her team sent vetting materials to Cooper, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., were reportedly sent vetting materials as well.

John Locke Foundation senior political analyst Mitch Kokai told Fox News Digital earlier on Monday that the North Carolina governor was considered “a good match” for Harris.

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North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper reportedly withdrew from consideration to be VP Kamala Harris’ running mate. (ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)

“Democrats are likely to see Roy Cooper as a good match for Kamala Harris for multiple reasons. First and foremost, Cooper helps bring North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes into play in a way other candidates do not,” Kokai explained.

“He has won six statewide elections since 2000. That’s an impressive accomplishment for a Democrat in a state that has trended right during the same time period.”

The political analyst called Cooper “the Democrats’ brightest star in North Carolina in recent years.”

“Cooper offers a clear demographic contrast to Harris, and he also presents a calm, sober, constrained personality that might help counter some of the criticism Harris has faced about her interactions with interviewers and the public,” Kokai added.

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Westover High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on July 18, 2024.  (ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to Cooper’s office and the Harris campaign for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin and Michael Lee contributed to this report.

A 9/11 terrorist’s plea to a Virginia judge that he be sent home to France from a federal Supermax prison to avoid the prospect of Donald Trump ordering his execution led to outrage from lawmakers on Monday.

A letter from Zacarias Moussaoui to federal Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria lays out the so-called “20th hijacker’s” concerns that a future Trump administration will lead to his swift demise.

In his letter sent from ADX Florence in Colorado, Moussaoui argued he previously pledged his “collaboration” with U.S. authorities against al Qaeda operatives like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and asked Brinkema to order the transfer.

“Instead, your honor might concur that there is a possibility of, not a probability, that if the ex-U.S. President Donald Trump was to be reelected, he will sentence me to death by presidential executive order,” the terrorist wrote. 

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In his lengthy, handwritten letter laying out his argument, he made references to presidential power as well as the Trump Justice Department’s decision to drop charges against Gen. Michael Flynn, now retired, after a guilty plea for lying to federal agents.

Critics argue that France’s strong opposition to the death penalty presented a significant obstacle for the U.S. when seeking the extradition of Earth Day co-founder Ira Einhorn from France to Philadelphia in 2001 to stand trial for the murder of his girlfriend.

Moussaoui’s letter depicted a marked change in his previous demeanor, as his 2006 trial was rife with insults and courtroom outbursts, including his refusal to stand and a retort after learning he escaped the death penalty: “You’ll never get my blood: God curse you all.”

In court, he also claimed – then recanted – that he was supposed to have hijacked a fifth plane and flown it into the White House.

In the letter, the terrorist further wrote he believes there is still time before Inauguration Day 2025 for a transfer to be worked out with French authorities: “May your honor and your court enter an order as soon as your court finds appropriate and grant me my different request petition.”

The Eastern District of Virginia clerk’s office confirmed to Fox News Digital that Brinkema’s chambers had received such a letter. A copy was first published on the Legal Insurrection website.

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Smoke pours from the twin towers of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, in New York City. (Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

In response, a dozen U.S. senators wrote to both President Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland, urging them to ignore the plea.

“It has come to our attention that Zacarias Moussaoui – the only person to be convicted in a U.S. court for his role in the devastating terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 – has submitted a request to the U.S. Department of Justice to be transferred to his home country of France to serve the remainder of his life sentence,” the letter reads.

“No consideration whatsoever should be given to this convicted terrorist’s preferences for where to serve his sentence for his heinous crimes, and we demand that you swiftly deny his transfer request and force him to spend the remainder of his pathetic life imprisoned in the country he and his fellow terrorists attacked 23 years ago,” continues the letter, which was spearheaded by Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, R-Fla.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., who also signed the letter, added that Moussaoui and his co-conspirators “committed a heinous crime against our nation, inflicting damage and grief upon the victims and their families that can never be repaired.”

The Brooklyn Bridge and the Tribute in Light (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins/File)

“The Biden administration must deny this request and ensure he continues to face justice in the U.S.,” Hoeven said.

Another signatory, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said any terrorist who played a role in 9/11 should never leave a U.S. prison.

“Under no circumstances should Zacarias Moussaoui be allowed to serve his sentence in France,” Blackburn said.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, echoed that sentiment, saying Biden and the Justice Department should “unequivocally deny this request. Moussaoui committed heinous acts against the United States on September 11 and he should remain imprisoned in the country he attacked.”

Other signatories included Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Mike Braun, R-Ind., Bill Cassidy, R-La., Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and Idaho Republicans James Risch and Mike Crapo.

Moussaoui was originally arrested in August 2001 after suspicions about his attempt to take flight training classes. He also allegedly received $14,000 in a wire transfer from fellow 9/11 co-conspirator Ramzi bin Alshibh, who never made it to the U.S. because his visa application was denied. 

A spokesperson for the Justice Department said it is a matter of policy not to discuss prisoner transfer requests or whether they are pending.

However, the spokesperson added that Moussaoui is serving a life sentence for “terrorism offenses” and the DOJ plans to “enforce this life sentence in U.S. custody.”

The White House did not respond to a separate request for comment.

A supervisor in Fairfax County, Virginia, is demanding that county leaders remove sanctuary county policies for illegal immigrants, as the sheriff says she will protect the rights of all people, regardless of immigration status.

Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid said she will not honor ICE detainers, saying in a letter obtained by WJLA that ICE must obtain a judicial warrant, including for violent offenders who are in the U.S. illegally.

Kincaid references former Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring’s opinion from 2015 that says ICE detainers are only requests. She also cites the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable seizures and the Fourteenth Amendment right of equal protection under the law with due process.

“The status of a person as an inmate or an undocumented immigrant does not diminish their right to be free from unlawful seizure, nor does it eliminate their access to due process and equal protection,” the sheriff wrote.

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Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity told WJLA that Kincaid’s “reliance on the Attorney General’s letter is a cop-out.”

“You clearly got [Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman] doing it and keeping his community safe,” he said, referring to honoring ICE detainers. “I think our residents expect the same from our sheriff. I think they’re failing their duty. Because when you’ve got repeat violent offenders being released into our community, whether that’s by the magistrates, whether that’s by the Commonwealth’s Attorney or whether that’s by the sheriff, that’s just unacceptable. We need to keep violent offenders in jail or get them out of our country.”

Chapman said his office immediately notifies ICE when his deputies arrest people who are in the U.S. illegally and that he honors ICE detainers, according to WJLA.

Kincaid also said the courts and the commonwealth’s attorney have, in some cases, released suspects on bond after charges for violent crimes.

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The sheriff said the courts and the commonwealth’s attorney have, in some cases, released suspects on bond after charges for violent crimes. (Getty Images)

“In other cases, the Commonwealth’s Attorney elected to nolle prosequi, or dismiss, the charges altogether,” she wrote.

Herrity, addressing Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano’s record, said U.S. citizens who are violent offenders are treated worse than illegal immigrants who are violent offenders.

Descano has said his office will not work with ICE on civil immigration enforcement, citing his commitment to “improve community safety, promote confidentiality, restore trust, preserve limited resources, and ensure all have equal protection of the law.”

“Prosecutors evaluate cases on an individual basis and take into account a wide range of factors when determining the best path forward to build community safety,” Descano’s office told WJLA in response to Kincaid’s letter. “Part of that work is determining when it is improper to go forward with a case, which can be due to the strength of the evidence, availability of witnesses, or in coordination with other charges the defendant may be facing. The office’s bond policy directs prosecutors to make hold/release recommendations based only on dangerousness and flight risk, and not to consider other factors.”

Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said his office will not work with ICE on civil immigration enforcement. (Getty Images)

Additionally, the Trust Policy, which the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors passed in 2021, bars Fairfax County police from alerting ICE when a person who is in the country illegally is arrested.

Herrity, who voted against the Trust Policy, said he wants the Board of Supervisors to eliminate the policy.

“I think it hurts our police department’s ability to actually do their job and get violent offenders off the street. We’re no longer a part of the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force because of the Trust Policy. It hurts their ability to do their job,” he said. “Any reason that we are releasing violent criminals back into our community needs to be revisited, everything from the 2020 legislation to the Commonwealth Attorney, to the Sheriff’s policies.”

The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office has had 725 undocumented immigrants in jail over the past year, but only three were transferred to ICE, according to WJLA.