The Democratic National Committee announced a new crop of billboard ads linking former President Donald Trump to controversial North Carolina Republican Mark Robinson, less than one day after CNN published a bombshell report about the gubernatorial candidate’s past comment on pornographic websites.
The billboards feature the two men smiling beside one another, along with captions of Trump’s past praise of Robinson.
They will be placed in several North Carolina cities, including Raleigh, Charlotte, and Greensboro before Trump holds a rally in Wilmington Saturday afternoon.
WHO HAS AND HASN’T ENDORSED HARRIS AND TRUMP THIS ELECTION CYCLE
It also comes as the DNC and Vice President Kamala Harris‘s campaign are hoping they can flip the Tarheel State blue, for the first time since 2008, by tying Trump to Robinson, whose campaign has been upended by the CNN report.
The former president’s primary endorsement of the lieutenant governor boosted him to become the GOP nominee for governor despite some hesitancy surrounding Robinson, who has long been known for his controversial comments on women, the LGBT community, and other minority groups.
According to CNN, Robinson once described himself as a “black Nazi” and made crude remarks about civil rights legend Martin Luther King Jr. on a pornography website’s message board, in addition to other comments that the news organization did not print due to their sexual nature.
Democrats immediately saw the fallout from Robinson’s past behavior as an opening to win North Carolina and began linking him to Trump Thursday afternoon.
Harris’s campaign posted a clip on social media of Trump calling Robinson an “unbelievable” lieutenant governor soon after the story was published.
Robinson and the North Carolina GOP party have denied the allegations, with Robinson refusing to drop out of the governor’s race.
On the same day as the CNN story, Politico also reported that an email address linked to Robinson was registered on Ashley Madison, a website that enables married people to cheat on their spouses. A spokesman for Robinson denied the allegations.
“Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson denies that he ever created or used an account on this website,” Mike Lonergan, Robinson’s communications director, told Politico.
It has not blunted the attacks from Democrats.
“Donald Trump and Mark Robinson are two MAGA extremists cut from the same cloth,” said DNC chair Jaime Harrison in a statement. “Both are anti-choice radicals, election deniers, and have a long and disturbing history of spewing hate. Make no mistake: Trump has embraced and tied himself to Robinson at every turn. Donald Trump and Mark Robinson are too extreme for North Carolina.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
If Democrats can flip North Carolina blue, it would be a huge blow to Trump, whose easiest path to 270 Electoral College votes involves winning North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. But Trump’s rally in Wilmington Saturday is an indication the GOP is not taking the state and its 16 electoral votes for granted.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee for comment.
