Political analysts are split on the impact Robinson’s troubles will have on Trump’s 2024 prospects in the state.
North Carolina’s 2024 gubernatorial race took a dramatic turn last week when the campaign of controversial Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson was hit by a new scandal.
CNN reported allegations of racist and sexist posts Robinson allegedly made on a pornography forum, raising questions of whether Robinson’s troubles could extend beyond his own race and hurt former President Donald Trump’s bid for North Carolina.
The CNN report covered posts made on the forum by a user with a username tied to Robinson. The user made posts about enjoying transgender pornography (Robinson has publicly called transgender people «filth»), about desiring to own slaves, and in one post, the user described themself as a «Black Nazi.»
But could Robinson’s scandal cost Trump the critical state of North Carolina?
Newsweek contacted several North Carolina-based political analysts, who are split on the impact Robinson’s troubles will have on Trump’s 2024 prospects in the state.
Robinson, the GOP’s nominee for governor, has denied the allegations, calling them «salacious tabloid lies.» Nevertheless, the damage may already be done and many of his top staffers have since resigned.
Robinson, who Trump has previously endorsed and described as «like Martin Luther King on steroids» was notably absent from Trump’s rally in Wilmington last Saturday, a sign that the Trump campaign may be distancing itself from his increasingly embattled gubernatorial candidate.
Trump won North Carolina in both the 2016 and 2020 elections, albeit narrowly, and the latest polling aggregates show him just half a percentage point ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris in the state.
Impact on Trump Uncertain
Mitch Kokai, a political analyst at the John Locke Foundation, a conservative think tank, downplayed the idea that Robinson’s scandal would hurt Trump, telling Newsweek: «I doubt that Mark Robinson’s latest controversy will have much of an impact on Donald Trump at the top of the ticket.
