Republicans in North Carolina and nationwide are weighing the potential consequences for former President Donald Trump following a bombshell report alleging that Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the party's nominee for governor, made disturbing and inflammatory statements on a pornography website forum.
CNN reported Thursday that Robinson, who went by an anonymous username he reportedly used elsewhere, made the comments more than a decade ago. Among other things, he voiced support for slavery, called himself a “black Nazi” and said he “peeped” at women in the shower as a 14-year-old.
ABC News has not independently verified that Robinson's comments were made. In a video he posted on X before the story was published, he claimed that “these are not the words of Mark Robinson.”
But Robinson, an ally of Donald Trump, already has a history of making inflammatory comments about Jews, gays and others. And with the election in North Carolina, one of the country’s key swing states, teetering on the edge, questions arise as to how much the latest news will affect his race and that of other Republicans on the ballot with him, including the former president.
“I think that just adds to the toxicity of the Robinson campaign. The real question then is, what is the fallout at the top of the ticket, and what is the impact on the lower echelons of Republicans here in North Carolina?” asked Michael Bitzer, chair of the Politics Department at Catawba College.
“This can't be something that voters won't recognize and will probably do more to soften Republican support. Is it limited to Robinson's campaign, or is it starting to affect Trump as well? Is it affecting other statewide Republican executives as well? We'll just have to wait and see, but this feels like a pretty significant event in North Carolina politics.”
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Robinson, who profiles himself as a conservative family man and is running for North Carolina's open governorship against Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, is already behind in the polls.
Despite holding a state-level office and enjoying wide-ranging name recognition, Robinson has a highly controversial past, calling the Holocaust “nonsense” and homosexuality “filth.” He was also accused of hypocrisy this year when he admitted to paying for his wife's abortion, a contrast to his outspoken opposition to the procedure, which he has previously likened to “murder” and “genocide.”
The race for governor in North Carolina is still considered tight, given the deep divisions among Republicans in the state. However, Republicans in the state told ABC News that they already see him as behind and that Thursday's report won't help.
“He has a long history of posting these kinds of comments on the Internet. These are maybe a little more graphic. Whether this in itself serves as a guillotine, I don't know. But it feels like the cumulative weight is starting to add up,” said one North Carolina GOP strategist. “It goes against everything he's publicly stated about himself. So, cumulatively plus the hypocrisy of this, it's clearly hurtful to him.”
Republicans were more divided over its significance beyond Robinson's own candidacy.
North Carolina is a state that Trump absolutely must win, and if he loses it, it would put a lot of pressure on him to perform in other swing states as well.
Trump is already ahead of Robinson — while polls show Robinson trailing, they also show a neck-and-neck race in the state between the former president and Vice President Kamala Harris. The key question now is whether the news will dent Republican turnout in a state where even a small increase in turnout can swing one way or the other.
“[Robinson] “It's already toast. The question is whether it hurts Trump, which is something the campaign is very concerned about,” said Doug Heye, a veteran GOP strategist with experience in North Carolina. “It doesn't cost him any voters directly, but his endorsed choice remains a huge distraction and doesn't have the money to scare away the vote.”
“He’s a baby-blue anchor around Trump’s chances in the Tar Heel State,” added Trump donor Dan Eberhart. “This is not good news for the Trump campaign at all.”
Democrats are already seizing on the news to link Robinson to Trump, who has repeatedly praised him, at one point even calling him “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
Kamala HQ, an X page that serves as one of the Harris campaign's rapid response tools, posted a series of videos in which Trump speaks positively about Robinson.
“His campaign was already failing before this story was published, so the real impact is being felt by all the Republicans who supported him and campaigned with him,” said Bruce Thompson, a fundraiser for the North Carolina Democratic Party.
But Trump has managed to overcome his own headwinds — including felony convictions in New York, questions about Harris' race and more — to remain the leader of his party and a viable presidential candidate, leaving some Republicans skeptical that Robinson's troubles will have an impact on the presidential campaign.
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“I doubt it has any impact at all on the lower ballot boxes,” said Dave Carney, a GOP strategist who chairs a pro-Trump super PAC.
“I don't think it helps, but it can't hurt,” added Sean Spicer, Trump's first White House spokesman.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt sounded confident, saying in a statement that the former president's team would “not take their eyes off the ball.”
“President Trump’s campaign is focused on winning the White House and saving this country. North Carolina is a critical part of that plan. We are confident that if voters compare Trump’s record of a strong economy, low inflation, a secure border and safe streets with the Biden-Harris failures, President Trump will win the Tarheel State again,” she said.
Still, sources familiar with the matter said the Trump campaign is bracing for a story about Robinson and plans to create more distance between the former president and embattled presidential candidate Robinson. There were no initial plans to call on him to withdraw, however.
“He doesn't seem to be affected by what's going on underneath him,” the North Carolina Republican strategist said of Trump. “It doesn't help him in any way. But does it hurt him? I don't know, I think that's an open question.”
Republicans assess potential impact on Trump from North Carolina bomb, originally published on abcnews.go.com
