Welcome to the online version of From the Political Bureauan evening newsletter featuring the latest reporting and analysis from the NBC News Politics team on the campaign, the White House, and Capitol Hill.
On today’s edition, we look at how Donald Trump is dealing with the political fallout from CNN’s bombshell report on North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson. Plus, “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker analyzes how the polls have changed over the past two months, ahead of a new NBC News poll this weekend.
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Trump has no plans to withdraw his support for Mark Robinson after alleged scandal surrounding porn site
By Matt Dixon, Katherine Doyle, Olympia Sonnier and Kristen Welker
Donald Trump is facing calls from both his allies and his own campaign to withdraw his support for scandal-plagued North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, according to four people familiar with the discussions.
However, there are no plans yet to formally force the former president to step down.
CNN reported Thursday that Robinson posted a series of offensive comments on a pornography website between 2008 and 2012, before he became lieutenant governor. In a statement, the Trump campaign did not directly address the underlying reporting about Robinson, who endorsed the former president in March and called him “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
“President Trump’s campaign is focused on winning the White House and saving the country,” said Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokeswoman. “North Carolina is a critical part of that plan. We are confident that when voters compare Trump’s record of a strong economy, low inflation, a secure border and safe streets with the Biden-Harris failure, President Trump will win the Tarheel State again.”
Some advisers within Trump’s campaign have privately urged him to withdraw his endorsement of Robinson, but so far those pleas have fallen on deaf ears, said a campaign aide who, like others in this piece, spoke on the condition of anonymity and could speak freely about the matter.
In addition, Republican members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation, including Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Tillis and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, who is from North Carolina, planned to secretly urge Trump to withdraw his support for Robinson, according to a person familiar with the conversations.
The political fallout from Robinson’s earlier comments could be particularly severe for Trump given the importance of North Carolina as one of seven key swing states on the presidential map. But Trump rarely publicly retracts his endorsements, long believing they make him look weak.
According to a source familiar with the event’s planning, Robinson will not attend Trump’s rally scheduled for Saturday in Wilmington, North Carolina. He has attended previous Trump rallies in the state.
Read more →
How Democrats are dealing with this: Democrats have been quick to capitalize on the scandal surrounding Robinson. The DNC has launched digital ads and billboards featuring Trump praising Robinson, while a new Harris campaign ad links Trump to Robinson’s past anti-abortion comments. But as Ben Kamisar notes, neither campaign mentions the inflammatory remarks cited in the CNN report.
What has changed in the past two months of the 2024 race?
By Kristen Welker
The last time we published a national NBC News poll was in July. That poll was in the field before President Joe Biden’s exit from the 2024 race and the first assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Just think of everything that has happened in the two months since then: two party conventions, two vice presidential nominations, a second alleged assassination attempt on Trump, and the first (and likely only) debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
And guess what: Sunday brings a new NBC News poll on “Meet the Press” that we hope will capture everything that’s happened since July.
I’m not going to give away any numbers from our poll (you’ll have to see those on Sunday), but I do want to focus on what other polls have shown over the past two months.
Recent polls on the presidential election reveal three consistent storylines.
1. Democrats are now polling better than they have all year, thanks to the party’s change at the top of the ballot.
2. The battleground map looks more favorable to Democrats than before, especially in the key Rust Belt states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
3. The presidential race is still tight, with most national and regional polls well within the margin of error.
Find out on Sunday what our latest poll shows.
Undecided voters, stuck in their opinions about Trump, are now considering supporting Harris
By Bridget Bowman, Emma Barnett, Alex Tabet and Katherine Koretski
Speaking of our previous poll, we re-reached respondents who were among the 8% who said they weren’t sure how they would vote in what was at that point a hypothetical Trump-Harris showdown.
Of the 21 voters we spoke to, the largest group were nine voters who said they were undecided but worried about Trump and were leaning toward Harris. Four others strongly supported Harris, while one supported Trump and three were leaning toward him. Four said they did not plan to vote.
The voters, who come from different backgrounds and corners of the country, are bound to be skeptical of politics and politicians. While some of them remain uncertain about Harris, many are resolute in their views on Trump in his third national campaign, with some adamant that no matter what they do, they will not vote for him.
“I need to do more research on her before I do anything,” said Kenneth Hauck, 38, a software tester from San Diego, who noted that he recently watched a YouTube video about Harris and Trump’s policies and that Harris’ housing plan piqued his interest. Hauck said Harris’ policies “seem good.” But, he added, “the devil is in the details.”
Norna, 19, a fast-food restaurant worker in Florida who did not want to give her last name, said she is particularly interested in Harris’ positions on “police brutality,” support for the Palestinians and economic policy.
“From what I’ve seen so far, I’m definitely not voting for Trump,” she said.
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🗞️ Today’s top stories
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👀 Watch votes: Trump allies on the Georgia Election Board voted to require counties to manually count ballots in the November election, despite bipartisan warnings that the measure could lead to delays and disruptions. Read more →
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🗳️ Ballot battle: The Supreme Court has denied Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein’s latest bid to get on the Nevada ballot. Read more →
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☑️ Voters vote: Early in-person voting began today in Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia. Read more →
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🛡️ Security boost: The House has passed a bill that would improve Secret Service protection for the leading presidential candidates and their running mates. Read more →
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🏛️ Divided government: Harris faces the prospect of a Republican-controlled Senate if she wins the presidency, which could thwart her legislative agenda and nominees to fill her administration and the courts. Read more →
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🗺️ Mapping: While Republicans in Nebraska are considering changing state law to give Trump an extra Electoral College vote this fall, their Democratic counterparts in Maine have little ability to even the score. Read more →
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🇺🇲 FLOTUS’ request: First lady Jill Biden stressed in an interview with Peter Alexander that “we must have a peaceful transition of power” and urged Americans to “come together” amid deep political divisions. Read more →
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👉 The question of guilt: At an event ostensibly aimed at combating anti-Semitism, Trump said Jewish voters will bear “a lot” of the blame if he loses in November. Read more →
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♻️ Apocalypse postponed: Alex Seitz-Wald notes that Trump is recycling several of the dark predictions he made (but never came to pass) from his 2020 campaign against Biden into his 2024 race against Harris. Read more →
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That’s all from the Politics Desk for now. If you have any feedback — likes or dislikes — please email us at politicsnieuwsbrief@nbcuni.com
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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
