Harris campaign highlights Trump’s past praise for Mark Robinson as CNN report roils battleground North Carolina

The campaign team for Donald Trump declined Thursday to comment on whether North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, whom the former president once compared to “Martin Luther King on steroids” when describing himself, ought to drop out of the election for Governor of the state or not. The state is considered one of the most important battlegrounds at the national level.

On the other hand, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign team revealed that President Trump has always admired Robinson. The news came after CNN aired a report Wednesday questioning some of Robinson’s past comments on the porn website’s bulletin board.

As a result of the discovery that he had made comments more than a decade ago in which he referred to himself as a “black NAZI!” and indicated support for the reinstatement of slavery, Robinson, who is a Trump loyalist and won the Republican nominee for governor in March, is facing increasing pressure to withdraw from the campaign. Robinson denied for a moment that he had made those remarks.

When the research was released, it immediately sent shockwaves across the presidential contest of 2024, which includes North Carolina as a target for both Trump and Harris. According to the law of the state, the deadline for a candidate to withdraw from the race was on Thursday, and the first absentee votes for the state were scheduled to be mailed out on Friday.

The campaign of Harris responded to the report by posting photographs on social media showing Trump and Robinson together. One of the photographs showed the two of them laughing and giving each other a thumbs up.

In a related social media post, the Harris campaign released a video of President Trump hailing Robinson. In the video, he referred to Robinson as “one of the great leaders in our country” and said he was “better than Martin Luther King.” The campaign added the headline from the CNN report to the video before it was uploaded.

The Trump campaign did not explicitly answer the reporting in a statement that was released on Thursday afternoon. The statement also did not address whether or not the former president wants Robinson to withdraw from the run for governor.

“The campaign of President Trump is centered on preventing the destruction of this nation and winning the White House.” It is essential that North Carolina be included in that strategy. In the event that voters in North Carolina compare the record of President Trump, which includes a robust economy, low inflation, a secure border, and safe streets, with the record of Biden and Harris, we are convinced that President Trump will emerge victorious once more in the state of North Carolina. “We will not take our eyes off the ball,” Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, said in an interview with CNN.

In terms of Robinson, Trump has a long history of speaking glowingly of him. While listening to Robinson speak at a campaign rally that took place in Greensboro, North Carolina, in March, Trump described him as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”

“I told him, ‘I believe that you are more excellent than Martin Luther King. When asked about it at the time, Trump responded, “I think you are Martin Luther King times two.” This week, there were rumblings that a potentially devastating article on Robinson was in the works, according to two sources who are familiar with the situation. Some in Trump’s circle overheard that conversation.

The Trump campaign did not invite Robinson for its next event in the country on Saturday, sources said, a decision that likely would have taken place even before the CNN report went viral. Most, if not all, of the recent Trump rallies in North Carolina went to Robinson. In the past month, he has given one focusing on the economy in Asheville. During that talk, the former president invited him to the platform in Asheboro.

In fact, given Robinson’s past pattern of inflammatorily controversial statements-such as ridiculing the victims of a school tragedy and disparaging the civil rights movement-many people close to Trump have long harbored worries about Robinson and his governorship race. Some members of Trump’s staff had privately expressed the expectation that Robinson would withdraw from the race when more of his controversial comments from the past were made public. This notwithstanding, all that saw Trump was not to take the setbacks to be an inhibition to endorse the lieutenant governor during one of his rallies that took place earlier in the year.

There never was an effort made to try to muscle Robinson out of the governor’s race, three top Trump campaign officials said. Then there was never any discussion about getting out of the gubernatorial race. That’s even though allies of the former president tried to distance the former president from Robinson.

On Thursday, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was posting messages on its social media stating it wanted Robinson out of the race. And we reject what’s wrong. Mark Robinson: “It’s time to quit.”

North Carolina Democrats seize on report

Currently, Robinson is vying for what could be a highly competitive fight against the Democrat Josh Stein to succeed the term-limited Democratic Governor Roy Cooper.

“Knowing who Mark Robinson is and what he stood for, as well as his misogyny and incitement to violence, Donald Trump and other leaders of the North Carolina Republican Party have been showering him with their overwhelming support for years. On Wednesday.” , Cooper posted this on social media: “They reap what they sow.”

Recent polling has shown that Stein, who is the state attorney general, is currently in the lead over Robinson. The statement that was released by his campaign on Thursday read as follows: “North Carolinians already know that Mark Robinson is completely unfit to be Governor.”Josh remains committed to winning this campaign so that together, we can work to make North Carolina a better and safer nation for everybody.

Just the latest proof that Mark Robinson is irresponsible, dangerous, and completely unfit to be governor, said Izzi Levy, press secretary for the Democratic Governors Association, which also issued a statement condemning the report.

As Levy said, “it’s very evident that this is the highest stakes election yet,” and we need to keep our foot on the gas to defeat Robinson in November. Now, as many Republicans warn against the damage Robinson would do as governor, Levy told the audience.

In response to a request for comment on the article and whether Robinson ought to withdraw from the race, the Republican Governors Association did not provide a response. Rep. Jeff Jackson of North Carolina, who is the Democratic nominee to succeed Stein as attorney general, stated that reading the CNN report about Robinson made him feel “sick.”

Additionally, he argued that the governor-general “has no business serving in any elected capacity for any reason whatsoever.” I want to know where every Republican in North Carolina stands on this issue, because it’s not an issue anyone can be confused about.

Republicans react on Capitol Hill

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis called it a “tough day,” but appealed to fellow Republicans across the state to “stay focused on the races we can win.” He broadly termed that to include the presidential race along with other fights further down the ballot. He didn’t mention governor at all.

All of us involved must make certain, therefore, that we deliver North Carolina to President Trump and ensure these outstanding Republican candidates have a fighting chance for such vitally important judicial and General Assembly seats across the state. In the event that Harris wins North Carolina, she will win the presidency. The statement was made by Tillis on social media. “We can’t let that happen.”

Earlier on Thursday, Representative Richard Hudson of North Carolina, who is in charge of the Republican campaign arm in the House of Representatives, stated to reporters that “the allegations were very concerning.” On the other hand, Hudson refrained from requesting that Robinson take a step back.

In his statement, he expressed his hope that the Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina will be able to convince the people of the state that the charges are not accurate. Additionally, Rep. Greg Murphy, a Republican from North Carolina who is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, described the allegations as “extremely troubling,” though he also expressed doubts about the veracity of the allegations

“What I read worried me a lot,” he said, “but with AI these days, and other potential evidence of electronics, who the hell knows what’s real and what’s not?” He was referring to the fact that things can be manipulated electronically. CNN was informed by Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina, who is also a member of the Freedom Caucus, that the report was “pretty sad.”

He stated, “To go this far along, and then to the people who supported him, all the money that he’s raised, and I think he needs to drop out today so that they get another candidate,” referring to the amount of money that he has raised during his campaign. Additionally, Norman said Robinson should know that previous comments on the message board will be public.

“I think he’s a different man now – obviously, it happened a long time ago – but in politics everything will be known, as it should be known,” Norman noted. “It’s the right thing to do.” Representative Marjorie Taylor Green, Republican of Georgia, said she enjoyed reading the indictments; However, he added: “If all of that is true, that would certainly be something I certainly cannot accept.”