Harris campaign criticizes Trump’s Robinson denial

Kamala Harris’ campaign has waned after former President Donald Trump refused to answer whether or not he would withdraw his support for Mark Robinson, the GOP gubernatorial candidate who was embroiled in scandal after a CNN report had detailed a history of controversial comments about pornography on forums from accounts linked to it.

At a press conference at Trump Tower on Thursday, the former president addressed a wide range of topics with reporters, including the refugee crisis, the war in Ukraine and even addressed the indictment of New York Mayor Eric Adams. He notably made no mention of the North Carolina gubernatorial candidate who received Trump’s coveted endorsement in March.

As he left the podium, a reporter asked if he planned to withdraw his endorsement from the lieutenant governor. Trump replied, “I don’t know the situation,” before quickly walking away and answering another reporter’s question.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.

The CNN report uncovered a long backlog of explicit comments from accounts linked to the lieutenant governor, including one in which the writer referred to himself as a “black Nazi!”

Robinson has vehemently denied the reporting, calling the comments “salacious tabloid lies.” In the days since the report’s release, Robinson has seen both campaign staff and office staff resign.

The Harris campaign, eager to link the former president with the beleaguered lieutenant governor in a key swing state, quickly responded to the remark. “It is impossible to believe that Donald Trump somehow missed the news that his hand-picked gubernatorial candidate was calling himself a ‘Nazi,'” Harris campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa said in a statement to the Daily Beast.

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“Trump has been to North Carolina twice since the news broke and is still standing by Robinson, even as the people who know Robinson best are abandoning him,” Moussa said.

Although Robinson has appeared at Trump rallies in the past, he did not appear at the Republican candidate’s Sept. 20 rallies in Wilmington and Wednesday in Mint Hill.

Robinson has attended Trump events in the past – as recently as August 21, he attended a speech the former president gave in Asheboro, North Carolina, and even received a round of applause from the podium. “Mark Robinson, he’s out there. He fights. He fights. He’s great,” reads a transcript of the event published by Roll Call.