North Carolina Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein said Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor of the state, could not exist without former President Donald Trump.
“Look, Robinson exists because Donald Trump has been lifting him up all along,” Stein, the state’s current attorney general, said Sunday in an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Mark Robinson couldn’t exist without the support of Donald Trump.”
Stein’s comments come after a recent CNN report about Robinson leaving disturbing comments on a pornography website. Trump held a rally in North Carolina yesterday without any mention of Robinson, whom Trump has previously supported and embraced. Robinson has denied making the comments in the CNN report. Robinson’s email was also found logged on Ashley Madison, a website for married people looking for affairs, which his team alleges was part of a data breach.
But in his interview with CNN, Stein said he didn’t believe Robinson’s denial because the recent developments are consistent with Robinson’s previous comments. Before the CNN report, Robinson had previously been scrutinized for comments about women, LGBTQ+, Jewish and Muslim people, among other remarks. Stein noted that the newly discovered comments are similar to what he previously posted on Facebook.
“Mark Robinson is absolutely unfit to be governor of North Carolina. And that was true even before your story broke last Thursday,” Stein said. “The story only served to underscore that fact and put an exclamation point on it.”
Stein also added that Republicans who supported Robinson must be “held accountable” — especially as some are now trying to distance themselves.
“Candidates at every ballot box in North Carolina need to be held accountable for their support of Mark Robinson and their participation in his entire campaign,” Stein said. “They supported him, and now it seems like people want to run away from them.”
As for the effect on the presidential election, Stein did not answer a question about whether he thinks the Robinson controversies could give Vice President Kamala Harris a boost in the state.
“We have so much potential to do better here in North Carolina. But we have to win,” Stein said. “My race is going to be incredibly close. Kamala Harris’ race is going to be close.”
