Harris, DNC try to tie Trump to North Carolina’s Mark Robinson

By any available measure, Republican Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson was already losing the North Carolina gubernatorial race. The question was less whether he would lose than the margin of his impending defeat.

But the latest revelations about the extremist candidate have raised other questions entirely — like whether Robinson’s campaign will be able to continue.

This comes as CNN uncovers evidence of a gubernatorial candidate posting on a porn site forum describing himself as a “black NAZI” who doesn’t necessarily think slavery is “bad” and likes transgender porn. (Robinson has denied the accuracy of the reports.)

The day after the CNN report broke, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign seized the opportunity. The New York Times reported:

Harris’ campaign has released a new television ad in North Carolina that seeks to link former President Donald J. Trump to Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, who is under pressure to drop out of the gubernatorial race after CNN reported offensive posts he allegedly made on an adult internet forum. The ad juxtaposes footage of Trump paying tribute to Robinson with footage of the lieutenant governor condemning women who have had abortions for not being “responsible enough to keep their skirts down.” The ad’s narrator concludes: “Donald Trump and Mark Robinson: They’re both bad for North Carolina.”

North Carolina residents will likely see this ad frequently in the coming days.

What’s more, it’s not just Team Harris. Less than a day after the right-wing candidate faced another round of brutal headlines, the Democratic National Committee also unveiled new ads — including billboards — linking Robinson to Trump.

As the NBC News report explained, the point isn’t subtle: Democrats don’t just want to remind North Carolina voters of Robinson’s scandals; they also want to link the former president to Robinson’s sinking ship. There are different paths to the White House this year, but nearly everyone agrees that if the Republican nominee fails in the Tar Heel State, Donald Trump won’t be back in power next year.

Even J.D. Vance admitted on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this weekend, “It’s going to be very difficult for us to win if we can’t beat North Carolina.”

That’s one reason Democrats have been so happy about Robinson’s latest scandal: The more North Carolinians who show up to support state Attorney General Josh Stein’s gubernatorial campaign this year, the better Harris’ chances of winning the state.

At least that’s the theory. Recent history tells us that North Carolinians have been prone to splitting their votes, voting for one party’s gubernatorial candidate while supporting the other party’s presidential candidate, at the same time. This happened in 2016 and 2020, for example, and could certainly happen again in 2024.

But with Robinson not doing so well, it’s no surprise that Democrats want to take full advantage of this opportunity.