The marketing campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Thursday sought to remind former President Donald Trump of his reward for embattled North Carolina GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson following an explosive CNN report detailing previous racist and lewd statements tied to him made on a porn web site.
The network unearthed feedback Robinson allegedly made between 2008 and 2012 on the message board of a pornography web site referred to as “Nude Africa,” through which he referred to himself as a “black NAZI” and shared his appreciation for transgender pornography, amongst different specific statements.
Robinson has denied making the posts, dismissing the proof shared within the CNN report as “salacious tabloid lies.”
The Harris marketing campaign sought to emphasise Trump’s ties to Robinson, sharing a collection of movies on X, previously Twitter, that includes Trump’s reward for the Republican candidate on a number of events.
Trump endorsed Robinson at a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, in March, calling him “higher than” civil rights chief Martin Luther King Jr.
“That is Martin Luther King on steroids,” Trump said of Robinson on the time.
David Plouffe, a senior adviser to the Harris marketing campaign, suggested Trump’s feedback, in gentle of the brand new reporting on Robinson, may value him North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes in November, hurting his possibilities to win the White Home.
One other video shared by the Harris marketing campaign options a part of a speech Trump gave at Mar-a-Lago in December 2023, calling Robinson a “star.”
“You must cherish him. It’s like a high-quality wine,” Trump mentioned. “He’s an impressive individual.”
Trump additionally referred to Robinson as a “good friend” and “one of many hottest politicians in america of America” in a rally forward of the 2022 midterms.
Harris’ group additionally shared a slideshow of pictures of the 2 posing along with a thumbs-up emoji.
Regardless of rumors that he was below stress to resign over the story, Robinson vowed to remain within the gubernatorial race.
“Clarence Thomas famously as soon as mentioned he was the sufferer of a high-tech lynching,” Robinson said in a video posted on social media. “Nicely, it seems like Mark Robinson is, too.”
In an announcement shared with a number of information shops, Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump marketing campaign, didn’t handle Robinson’s previous feedback and recommended North Carolina, a key battleground, stays very a lot in play for the previous president.
“We’re assured that as voters evaluate the Trump file of a robust financial system, low inflation, a safe border, and protected streets, with the failures of Biden-Harris, then President Trump will win the Tarheel State as soon as once more,” Leavitt mentioned. “We is not going to take our eye off the ball.”
The New York Times reported that whereas Trump had no plans to stress Robinson to drop out, he had lately declined having Robinson be part of him in not less than one occasion within the state and his marketing campaign deliberate to create extra distance between him and the gubernatorial candidate going ahead, citing a supply with direct data.
In the meantime, the North Carolina Republican Occasion is standing by Robinson.
“Robinson has categorically denied the allegations made by CNN however that received’t cease the Left from attempting to demonize him through private assaults,” it mentioned in an announcement posted on X. “The Left wants this election to be a persona contest, not a coverage contest as a result of if voters are centered on coverage, Republicans win on Election Day.”
Nonetheless, Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper suggested each Trump and the state’s GOP have been complicit in selling Robinson regardless of “figuring out who he was and what he stood for together with disrespect for girls and inciting violence.”
“They reap what they sow,” Cooper added.
