Donald Trump will be campaigning in North Carolina today—without Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor by his side. The Trump campaign has remained mum about Robinson, a top Trump ally, since CNN reported on Thursday that Robinson had made a series of “inflammatory comments” on a pornographic message board more than a decade ago, including referring to himself as a “black NAZI!” and praising Mein Kampf as a “good read.”
This wasn’t Robinson’s first scandal. Last October, Jewish Insider reported that Robinson had made antisemitic comments on social media going back a decade, including sharing a quote about racial pride that has been attributed to Adolf Hitler.
Trump endorsed Robinson in March despite these remarks, even referring to the candidate, who has denied that systemic racism exists, as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
Trump won North Carolina in 2020 with his narrowest margin of victory. Politico reports that the Harris campaign sees the scandal as an opening to appeal to voters in the state. “Trump made Mark Robinson,” advisers wrote in a memo, “and he will have to answer for him.”
On Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign released a new ad highlighting Trump’s past praise of Robinson, and Robinson’s comments on abortion. The ad includes a clip where Robinson says, “abortion in this country is about killing a child because you aren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down.”
In a video on Thursday, Robinson denied writing the posts revealed by CNN. “You know my words, you know my character, and you know I have been completely transparent in this race and before.”