Donald Trump Ignores the Elephant in the Room at North Carolina Rally

Speaking at a rally in Mint Hill, North Carolina, former President Donald Trump avoided mentioning embattled GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, despite the ongoing controversy surrounding him.
Instead of addressing the scandal involving Robinson, who faces allegations of writing racist and sexist posts on internet forums following a bombshell CNN report, Trump focused on familiar themes like illegal immigration, jobs, crime, and the economy. The Republican nominee also renewed his attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump’s polling in North Carolina remains tight, with most surveys calling the race a toss-up. A new poll released yesterday shows Harris inching ahead by a single point, while another gives Trump a slight 2-point lead.
This marks the second time Trump has visited North Carolina without mentioning Robinson, who was once a fixture at his rallies in the state. Trump endorsed Robinson for governor in March, ahead of North Carolina’s primary, even describing him as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
While Trump refrained from mentioning Robinson, top Republicans are trying to distance the former president from the North Carolina lieutenant governor and the controversy over his alleged comments. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, said on Fox News that Trump was unaware of the remarks attributed to Robinson.
Ohio Senator JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, has been the only one from the Trump campaign to address the controversy, telling NBC on Friday that the allegations against Robinson are “pretty far out there” and stressing that “allegations aren’t necessarily reality.”
“It’s ultimately up to Mark Robinson and the people of North Carolina to decide if he will be their governor and if he wants to remain in the race,” Vance said.
Robinson, a favorite of the state GOP’s conservative base and who would be the state’s first Black governor if elected, has repeatedly denied writing the posts and has said he’ll stay in the race. He also remained optimistic about his chances in November against Democratic nominee Josh Stein, the sitting attorney general, even as polls indicated he is trailing him.
A New York Times/Siena College poll taken between September 17 and 21, and published on Monday, showed Stein, North Carolina’s attorney general, polling 10 points ahead of Robinson (47 to 37 percent). This is the first poll released following the CNN report on the alleged comments.
Shifting his focus on Wednesday, Trump delivered an hour-long speech primarily centered on the economy, pledging to protect the manufacturing sector, a crucial part of the economies in key Midwestern and Southern swing states.
Though Trump has historically led on the economy and immigration, his advantage has been shrinking in recent weeks with Harris closing the gap. His campaign is particularly eager to win back Rust Belt voters, who were instrumental in his 2016 victory.
At recent rallies, Trump has emphasized economic issues, an area where he still holds an edge over Harris. Yesterday in Georgia, his campaign introduced the slogan “Make America Wealthy Again.”
Trump also weighed in on the war in Ukraine, calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “the greatest salesman on Earth” while criticizing the Biden administration for its continued support of Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
“Every time he came to our country, he walked away with 60 billion dollars,” Trump said while attacking Biden and Harris and asserting that under his administration, “this would have never happened.”