Less than 24 hours after CNN published a shocking report about comments they said Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor of North Carolina, made on a pornographic website, the Democratic National Committee rolled out new ads linking him to former President Donald Trump.
The DNC plans to launch a new digital ad and nearly a dozen billboards highlighting how Trump has praised Robinson, the North Carolina lieutenant governor, according to a source familiar with the matter and a press release from DNC regional press secretary Kenny Palmer. NBC News was first to report the new ad push.
By pairing Trump with Robinson, Democrats hope to erode Trump’s support in the state, which has not been won by a Democratic presidential candidate since 2008.
North Carolina could prove decisive in a close presidential race, and Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, Trump’s running mate, himself said it would be “very difficult” for his ticket to win in November if Democrats were to take North Carolina.
The DNC ads will launch Friday. The digital ads will target voters in North Carolina on YouTube and Facebook, the source said, while Palmer said in the press release that billboards will go up in cities across the state.
The source familiar with the matter said television ads linking Trump to Robinson “are definitely on the table.” Nothing is set in stone, the source added.
The billboard’s design features a photo of Trump and Robinson posing together, along with quotes Trump has said about Robinson, such as “we must cherish Mark” and that Robinson is “exceptional” and an “incredible gentleman.”
The digital ads reflect similar sentiments, the source said.
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Democrats’ attempt to link the two men in ads. A spokesman for Robinson’s campaign, Mike Lonergan, responded to NBC News’s query with a press release that included links to a video of Robinson denying the CNN report and several news articles about his opponent in the gubernatorial race, Attorney General Josh Stein, who used it to criticize Stein and several of his claims about Robinson during the campaign.
The story CNN published on Thursday detailed a series of racist and anti-Semitic comments it said Robinson made on a pornography message board. Robinson called the allegations “tabloid trash” in a video posted before the story was published.
According to CNN, Robinson made his statements between 2008 and 2012. He called himself a “black Nazi,” said that “slavery is not bad” and said he wanted “them to bring it back.”
Robinson also said that if he had been in the Ku Klux Klan, he would have racially abused Martin Luther King Jr., CNN reported. In March, Trump called Robinson “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
“I said that to Mark. I said, ‘I think you’re better than Martin Luther King. I think you’re Martin Luther King times two,’” Trump said at a rally in Greensboro where he endorsed Robinson for governor.
Robinson was elected lieutenant governor in 2020 and has vowed to remain in the race for governor.
Trump has praised Robinson, calling him “outstanding” and “one of the most popular politicians.” He said Robinson “has become a friend of mine.” Robinson also spoke at the Republican National Convention this summer.
DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison said in a statement: “Donald Trump and Mark Robinson are two MAGA extremists cut from the same cloth. Both are anti-abortion radicals, election deniers, and have a long and disturbing history of spewing hate. Make no mistake: Trump has embraced and strung Robinson along on every street corner.”
A Trump campaign spokesman issued a statement after the story broke, but made no mention of Robinson or the comments CNN alleged.
“President Trump’s campaign is focused on winning the White House and saving this country, and North Carolina is a critical part of that plan,” spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in the statement. “We are confident that if voters compare Trump’s record of a strong economy, low inflation, a secure border and safe streets to the Biden-Harris failures, President Trump will win the Tarheel State again. We will not take our eyes off the ball.”
The Harris campaign’s X account posted more than a half-dozen times in the hours after the CNN story broke, linking Trump and Robinson. The posts included clips of Trump praising Robinson at rallies and shaking his hand, and of them posing for photos together.
Trump narrowly won North Carolina in 2020, with 49.9% of the vote to Joe Biden’s 48.6%. Democrats have eyed North Carolina as a possible November state, which would give Harris’ campaign a potentially decisive 16 electoral votes.
The state “has been competitive before and Republican extremism is at the heart of this state — from Trump to Robinson to candidates in lower positions,” DNC spokesman Abhi Rahman said in a text message.
Democrats have poured millions of dollars in advertising into the state, and Harris has visited the state several times this month for rallies. Two of Harris’ rallies in North Carolina last week drew a combined crowd of about 25,000.
A Quinnipiac University poll conducted this month found Harris with 49% of likely voters, while Trump had 46%. The results fell within the poll’s margin of error, 3.2 percentage points.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
