North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, Republican Mark Robinson, suffered burns Friday night while attending a truck show while campaigning for governor, his campaign announced.
Robinson was performing at the Mayberry Truck Show in Mount Airy when he was injured, campaign spokesman Mike Lonergan said in a statement.
It added that Robinson was treated at Northern Regional Hospital in Mount Airy for second-degree burns.
“He is in good spirits, grateful for the outpouring of goodwill and excited to be the first to return to the campaign trail as planned,” Lonergan said.
Lonergan did not immediately respond to a text message seeking details about how and where the burn occurred. Robinson had suspended his campaign along with Moore County Republicans since Friday morning. Four appearances are scheduled for Saturday.
Robinson, who will serve as lieutenant governor in 2021, is running against Democratic gubernatorial candidate and current Attorney General Josh Stein. The current governor, Democrat Roy Cooper, was barred from running this fall due to term limits.
Many Republicans have recently distanced themselves from Robinson after CNN reported on September 19 that he had posted comments using racially and sexually explicit language on an online bulletin board. are. More than a dozen staff members from his campaign and the lieutenant governor’s office resigned in the aftermath.
Robinson, who has faced criticism for other inflammatory comments, has denied writing the messages more than a decade ago and has asked a law firm to investigate.
Located about 100 miles north of Charlotte (near the Virginia border), Mount Airy is where the late television star Andy Griffith grew up. This community served as the inspiration for the fictional town of Mayberry on “The Andy Griffith Show” in the 1960s. City leaders have embraced that history with homages and festivals related to the show.
