Trump appeals to women in return to North Carolina without Mark Robinson, a top in-state supporter
CTV
Donald Trump returned to North Carolina on Saturday, stumping in the southern battleground state with direct appeals to women, claiming he would be a better champion for them than U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is vying to become the first female president.
Donald Trump returned to North Carolina on Saturday, stumping in the southern battleground state with direct appeals to women, claiming he would be a better champion for them than Vice President Kamala Harris, who is vying to become the first female president.
Trump campaigned in Wilmington, along the state's southern coast, without Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the GOP gubernatorial nominee and one of the former president's top surrogates in the state, following a CNN report about his alleged posts on a pornography website’s message board. He did not mention Robinson during a speech that lasted just over an hour.
Robinson has denied writing the posts, which include lewd and racist comments, saying Thursday that he wouldn’t be forced out of the race by “salacious tabloid lies.” Trump's campaign has appeared to distance itself from Robinson in the wake of the CNN reporting, which the AP has not independently verified, saying in a statement that Trump “is focused on winning the White House and saving this country" and calling North Carolina “a vital part of that plan," without mentioning Robinson.
Democrats have seized on the opportunity to highlight Trump’s ties to Robinson, with billboards showing the two together, as well as a new ad from Harris' campaign highlighting the Republican candidates’ ties as well as Robinson’s support for a statewide abortion ban without exceptions. According to Harris’ campaign, it’s their first ad effort related to tying Trump to a down-ballot race.
Both abortion rights and Robinson are electoral liabilities for Trump in a state he previously won twice. Already before CNN's report, Robinson was trailing in several recent polls to Democratic nominee Josh Stein, the state’s attorney general. Polls show Trump and Harris locked in a close race here and nationally.
In his first outdoor rally since the second apparent attempt to assassinate him, Trump argued women would be safer and more prosperous with him as president and would “no longer be thinking about abortion."
“I will protect women at a level never seen before. They will finally be healthy, hopeful, safe and secure,” Trump said. “Their lives will be happy, beautiful, and their lives will be great again. So women, we love you. We’re going to take care of you.”
