CNN
—
Donald Trump’s campaign declined to comment Thursday on whether North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, whom Trump once described as “Martin Luther King on steroids,” should withdraw from the battleground state’s gubernatorial race.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign highlighted Trump’s history of praising Robinson following a CNN report Thursday about Robinson’s history of making offensive comments on pornography message boards.
Robinson, a Trump ally who won the Republican gubernatorial nomination in March, is facing growing pressure to drop out of the race after it was revealed that more than a decade ago he called himself a “black Nazi” and made statements in support of restoring slavery, which he denies.
The news quickly sent ripples through the 2024 presidential race, with North Carolina a target for both Trump and Harris, and state law giving candidates a deadline to withdraw on Thursday, with the state’s first absentee ballots set to be mailed out on Friday.
The Harris campaign responded to the reports, sharing photos on social media of Trump and Robinson together, including one showing them giving a thumbs up.
In another social media post, the Harris campaign shared a video of Trump praising Robinson, calling him “one of our country’s great leaders” and “better than Martin Luther King.” The campaign overlaid the video with a headline from the CNN report.
In a statement Thursday afternoon, the Trump campaign did not directly address the reports or whether the former president wanted Robinson to withdraw from the gubernatorial race.
“President Trump’s campaign is focused on winning the White House and saving our country, and North Carolina is a key part of that plan. We are confident that President Trump will win North Carolina again when voters compare the Trump Administration’s record of a strong economy, low inflation, secure borders and safe cities with the failures of a Biden-Harris Administration. We will not take our eyes off this goal,” Trump campaign spokesperson Caroline Leavitt told CNN.
Trump has long praised Robinson, and at a campaign rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, in March, he said he had listened to Robinson speak on a plane and called him “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
“I said, ‘I think you’re better than Martin Luther King. I think you’re twice Martin Luther King,'” Trump said at the time.
Some in Mr. Trump’s inner circle heard rumors this week that a potentially damaging story about Mr. Robinson was being prepared, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Even before the CNN report was published, the Trump campaign had not invited Robinson to its upcoming Saturday rally in the state, a decision that is likely to remain in place, sources said. Robinson has attended most or all of Trump’s recent North Carolina events. Last month, he spoke at Trump’s economy-focused rally in Asheville, and Trump invited him up on stage in Asheboro.
Many close to Trump have long been concerned about Robinson and her gubernatorial candidacy, given her inflammatory past comments that have included disparaging the civil rights movement and mocking school shooting victims. Some in the Trump campaign privately hoped that Robinson would back out as more of her controversial past came to light. But Trump voiced his support for the lieutenant governor at a rally earlier this year.
Despite the efforts to distance the former president from Robinson, three senior Trump campaign advisers told CNN there has been no effort to pressure Robinson to drop out of the gubernatorial race and there are no current plans to ask him to drop out.
The NAACP called on Robinson to withdraw from the race, posting on social media on Thursday: “The NAACP is nonpartisan, but we are not blind. And we will speak out against wrong. Mark Robinson, step aside!”
Robinson is currently in a tough race against Democrat Josh Stein to succeed term-limited Gov. Roy Cooper.
“Donald Trump and the leadership of the North Carolina Republican Party supported Mark Robinson for years, knowing who he was and what he stood for – his misogyny and incitement to violence. They will reap what they sow,” Cooper said on social media on Thursday.
Stein, the state Attorney General, has led Robinson in recent polls. Her campaign said in a statement Thursday that “North Carolinians already know that Mark Robinson is completely unfit to be Governor. Josh remains focused on winning this race, and together we will build a safer and stronger North Carolina for everyone.”
The Democratic Governors Association also slammed CNN’s report, with spokesperson Izzy Levy calling it “the latest evidence that Mark Robinson is a psychopath, a dangerous man and completely unfit to serve as governor.”
“While many Republicans are now warning about the damage Robinson could inflict if he becomes governor, it’s clear that the stakes have never been higher and we must keep our foot on the gas to defeat him in November,” Levy said.
The Republican Governors Association did not respond to a request for comment about the report or whether Robinson should withdraw from the race.
Rep. Jeff Jackson, the Democratic representative from North Carolina who was nominated to replace Stein as attorney general, said he was “sickened” after reading CNN’s report about Robinson.
“The lieutenant governor is ineligible to hold any elected office. I’d like to hear from every Republican in North Carolina where they stand on this, because this really shouldn’t be a difficult question,” he said.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis called the CNN report a “tough day” but urged his state’s Republicans to “stay focused on the races you can win,” citing the presidential race and lower-district races, but did not mention the gubernatorial race.
“We must ensure President Trump wins North Carolina and support great Republican candidates running in key congressional and judicial races. If Harris wins North Carolina, she’ll take the White House too. We can’t allow that to happen,” Tillis said on social media.
“The allegations are deeply disturbing,” Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, who heads the House Republican campaign, told reporters earlier in the day.
But Hudson stopped short of asking Robinson to resign.
“My hope is that the lieutenant governor can reassure the people of North Carolina that the allegations are not true,” he said.
Greg Murphy, a Republican from North Carolina and a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, also called the allegations “deeply disturbing” but questioned their veracity.
“What I’ve read is very concerning, but with all the electronic manipulation going on these days with AI and everything else, who knows what’s true and what’s not,” he said.
Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, also a member of the Freedom Caucus, told CNN that the report was “deeply saddening.”
“Given how far he’s come, the people who’ve supported him, all the money he’s raised, I think he should withdraw today and run another candidate,” he said.
Norman also said Robinson should have known his past message board comments would be made public.
“I think he’s a different person now. Obviously a lot of this stuff has happened in the past, but in politics, of course, they’re going to come out with everything,” Norman said.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said she wanted to read the allegations, but added, “If it all turns out to be true, I could never support it.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Alaina Turine, Kristen Holmes, Aaron Perish, Diane Gallagher, Annie Grayer, Morgan Rimmer, Kate Sullivan and Omar Jimenez contributed to this report.
