Welcome to the online edition of From the Politics Desk, a nightly newsletter where the NBC News politics team brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the campaign, the White House and Congress.
In today’s feature, we look at how Donald Trump is dealing with the political fallout from CNN’s explosive reporting on North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson. Plus, “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker breaks down polling changes over the past two months ahead of this weekend’s new NBC News poll.
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Trump has no plans to withdraw his support for Mark Robinson following the porn site scandal
Matt Dixon, Catherine Doyle, Olympia Sonnier, Kristen Welker
Donald Trump is being urged by allies and his own campaign to withdraw his support for scandal-plagued North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, according to four people familiar with the discussions.
But for now, there are no plans for the former president to formally fire him.
CNN reported Thursday that Robinson posted a series of offensive comments to a pornography site between 2008 and 2012, before he became lieutenant governor. The Trump campaign did not directly address the reports about Robinson in a statement. Trump endorsed him in March, calling him “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
“President Trump’s campaign is focused on winning the White House and saving our country,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said. “North Carolina is a key part of that plan. We are confident that when voters compare the Trump Administration’s record of delivering on a strong economy, low inflation, secure borders and safe cities with the failures of a Biden-Harris Administration, President Trump will win North Carolina again.”
Some advisers within the Trump campaign have quietly urged Robinson to withdraw his endorsement, but so far the requests have fallen on deaf ears, according to a campaign official who, like others in this article, spoke freely about the matter on the condition of anonymity.
Additionally, Republican members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation, including Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Tillis and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley of North Carolina, planned to privately urge Trump to withdraw his endorsement of Robinson, according to a person familiar with the conversations.
The political fallout from Robinson’s past comments could be especially tough for Trump because North Carolina is one of seven key battleground states in the presidential election. But Trump rarely publicly retracts endorsements because he has long believed doing so makes him look weak.
Robinson will not attend a Trump rally planned for Saturday in Wilmington, North Carolina, a person familiar with planning the event said, even though he has attended Trump events in the state in the past.
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Democratic response: Democrats have been quick to capitalize on the scandal involving Robinson. The Democratic National Committee has run digital and billboard ads featuring Trump praising Robinson, while a new ad from the Harris campaign links Trump to Robinson’s past anti-abortion comments. But as Ben Camisar points out, neither campaign has addressed the inflammatory comments uncovered in the CNN report.
What’s changed in the past two months in the 2024 election campaign?
Kristen Welker
NBC News last released a national poll in July. That survey was conducted before President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential race and before the first assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump took place.
Consider what else has happened in the two months since: two party conventions, two vice presidential selections, a second assassination attempt on Trump, and the first (and likely only) debate between President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
And lo and behold, a new NBC News poll will be released on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” that will hopefully reflect all that has happened since July.
Now, I’m not going to give away any of the poll numbers, you’ll have to tune in on Sunday, but I want to focus on what other polls have shown over the last couple of months.
Recent polls on the presidential election have shown three consistent storylines.
1. Democrats are in their strongest position so far this year due to a change in the party’s top candidate.
2. Battleground state maps appear to be more favorable to Democrats than they have been in the past, especially in key Rust Belt states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
3. The presidential election remains close, with most national and state polls falling within the margin of error.
Tune in on Sunday to see the latest poll results.
Undecided voters who have solidified their views of Trump are considering whether to support Harris.
Bridget Bowman, Emma Barnett, Alex Tabet, Katherine Korecki
Speaking of the last poll, we reached out to 8% of respondents who assumed at the time that Trump and Harris would face off but were unsure how they would vote in that case.
Of the 21 voters we spoke to, the majority – nine who are undecided but concerned about Trump – are leaning toward choosing Harris, four others are definitely backing Harris, one backs Trump, three are leaning toward supporting Trump, and four have no plans to vote.
Voters from different parts of the country and backgrounds are united by their skepticism of politics and politicians. While some remain unsure about Harris, many are firm in their views of Trump, who is in his third national election campaign, and some are adamant they won’t vote for him no matter what.
“I need to find out more about her first,” said Kenneth Hauck, 38, a software tester in San Diego. He said he recently watched a YouTube video about Harris and Trump’s policies and was intrigued by her housing plan. Hauck said Harris’s policies “sound good,” but added that “the devil is in the details.”
Nona, a 19-year-old fast-food worker from Florida, who declined to give her last name, said she was particularly interested in Harris’ stance on “police brutality,” support for Palestinians and economic policy.
“Based on what I’ve seen so far, I definitely will not be voting for Trump,” she said.
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๐๏ธ Today’s top news
๐ Vote Watch: Trump allies at the Georgia State Election Commission voted to require counties to count votes by hand in the November election, despite bipartisan warnings that the measure could cause delays and confusion. Read more โ ๐ณ๏ธ Battles over the vote: The Supreme Court rejected Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein’s last-minute request to be included on the Nevada ballot. Read more โ โ๏ธ Voters are casting their ballots: Early in-person voting began today in Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia. Read more โ ๐ก๏ธ Increased security: The House passed a bill to increase Secret Service protection for the major presidential candidates and their running mate. Read more โ ๐๏ธ Divided government: Harris faces the possibility of Republicans taking control of the Senate if she wins the presidential election, which could hinder her legislative agenda and nominations to fill the administration and courts. Read more โ ๐บ๏ธ Mapping: While Nebraska Republicans are considering changing state law to give Trump an extra electoral vote this fall, Maine Democrats have few levers to even the score. Read more โ ๐บ๐ฒ First Lady’s Plea: In an interview with Peter Alexander, First Lady Jill Biden stressed that “we have to have a peaceful transfer of power” and urged Americans to “come together” amid deep political divisions. Read more โ ๐ Shifting the blame: At an event ostensibly focused on fighting anti-Semitism, Trump said that Jewish voters would shoulder “a lot” of the blame if he loses in November. Read more โ โป๏ธ Postponing the end: Alex Seitz-Wald points out that Trump is repurposing some dark predictions he made (but didn’t come true) in his 2020 campaign against Biden in his 2024 campaign against Harris. Read more โ Follow our live race coverage โ
That’s all from the Politics Department. If you have any comments (what you liked, what you didn’t like, etc.), please email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com.
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