By James Oliphant
(Reuters) -Donald Trump campaigned in North Carolina on Saturday, but his embattled Republican ally, gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, was nowhere to be seen.
Robinson, who has appeared at previous Trump rallies in the battleground state, was absent after a CNN report this week detailed how he allegedly once called himself a “Black NAZI” and proposed bringing back slavery in comments posted on a pornography website. Robinson has denied the allegations and has said he will remain in the governor’s race.
North Carolina is critical to the hopes of both Republican presidential hopeful Trump and his opponent in the Nov. 5 election, Democrat Kamala Harris.
Polls show the race in the state to be tight, and some Republicans worry that the scandal swirling around Robinson could damage Trump’s chances there.
At the rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, Trump suggested he would decline to debate Harris a second time after she accepted CNN’s invitation to participate in an Oct. 23 face-off.
“The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late. Voting has already started,” Trump told the crowd.
Trump has not addressed the allegations against Robinson, currently the state’s lieutenant governor, but in the past he has praised him as “Martin Luther King on steroids.” Robinson appeared at a Trump rally as recently as last month.
Trump’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Robinson may not have been at Saturday’s rally, but Democrats worked to ensure he was not forgotten.
Ahead of Trump’s visit, the Democratic National Committee launched new advertising across the cities of Raleigh, Charlotte and Greensboro that ties Trump to Robinson.
The billboard ads show a picture of the two men together, along with quotes from Trump previously calling Robinson an “outstanding person” and an “incredible gentleman.” “Trump on Mark Robinson: ‘We have to cherish Mark,'” the billboards read.
After CNN published its report, the Harris campaign posted on social media photographs of Trump and Robinson, calling them “best friends.” On Friday, it began running a TV ad in North Carolina featuring Trump’s past praise for Robinson.
Robinson has a history of inflammatory rhetoric, including denying the Holocaust and referring to Muslims as “invaders” and to gay and transgender people as “filth.” His political career has been driven by his defense of gun rights and extreme right-wing positions.
Trump used the Wilmington rally largely to rail again against the influx of migrants into the United States during the Biden administration.
He pledged, if elected, to send law enforcement agents into “Democrat-run” cities to locate immigrants in the country illegally and deport them. He vowed to crack down on so-called “sanctuary cities” that shield those immigrants from the reach of federal enforcement and said he would seek legislation in Congress “outlawing” them.
“We will hunt down and capture every single gang member, drug dealer, rapist, murderer, and migrant criminal,” Trump told the crowd.
Harris’ campaign and its allies have made a significant investment in North Carolina, including two stops by the vice president last week. A Democrat has not won the state in a presidential election since 2008, but voters have elected Democrat Roy Cooper as governor in 2016 and 2020.
Robinson had been trailing his opponent, Democrat Josh Stein, even before the CNN report, suggesting he could be a drag on Trump’s chances in the state if some disaffected Republicans stay home on Election Day or defect to Harris.
Chris Cooper, a professor of political science at Western Carolina University, said in a state that Trump won by just 1.3 percentage points in 2020, the Robinson scandal could damage Republicans’ chances up and down the ballot in November, including Trump’s.
“If some people feel that the Republican brand is stained enough that they’d rather stay home, then that’s going to matter,” Cooper said. “It doesn’t take a big difference to flip the state.”
