WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Thursday decried antisemitism hours after an explosive CNN report detailed how one of his allies running for North Carolina governor made a series of racial and sexual comments on a website where he also referred to himself as a “black NAZI.”
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson vowed to remain in the race despite the report, and the Trump campaign appeared to be distancing itself from the candidate while still calling the battleground state a vital part to winning back the White House. Trump has frequently voiced his support for Robinson, who has been considered a rising star in his party despite a history of inflammatory remarks about race and abortion.
Trump did not comment on the allegations during his Thursday addresses to a group of Jewish donors and to the Israeli-American Council in Washington. His campaign issued a statement about the CNN story that did not mention Robinson, saying instead that Trump “is focused on winning the White House and saving this country” and that North Carolina was a “vital part of that plan.”
Robinson’s reported remarks — including a 2012 comment in which he said he preferred Adolf Hitler to the leadership in Washington — clashed with Trump’s denunciations of antisemitism in Washington and his claim that Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, sympathized with enemies of Israel. The story also could threaten Trump’s chances of winning North Carolina, a key battleground state, with Robinson already running well behind his Democratic opponent in public polls.
“This story is not about the governor’s race in North Carolina. It’s about the presidential race,” said Paul Shumaker, a Republican pollster who’s worked for Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and warned that Trump could risk losing a state he won in 2016 and 2020.
“The question is going to be, does Mark Robinson cost Donald Trump the White House?” Shumaker added.
After allegations against Robinson became public, a spokesman for Harris’ campaign, Ammar Moussa, reposted on social media a photo of Trump and the embattled candidate. “Donald Trump has a Mark Robinson problem,” he wrote.
The North Carolina Republican Party issued a statement standing by Robinson, noting he “categorically denied the allegations made by CNN but that won’t stop the Left from trying to demonize him via personal…