On Sept. 17, North Carolina Republican gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson was welcomed to Tennessee as a GOP superstar.
The Tar Heel State’s lieutenant governor was the keynote speaker at the civic group 917 Society’s Constitution Day celebration in Franklin that drew big names including State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson.
Two days later, CNN reported that years ago Robinson used a pornographic site to make inflammatory comments including calling himself a “Black Nazi.”
The dominoes started to fall. His senior campaign members resigned by the weekend. He failed to attend a rally in North Carolina last Saturday featuring Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Robinson but did not mention the candidate’s name once. On Monday, The Tennessean reported that Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee withdrew his endorsement of Robinson.
This is a big deal because Lee is the chairman of the Republican Governor’s Association and was scheduled to attend a fundraiser for Robinson this week.
Trump is barely ahead in N.C., but Robinson scandal could erode that lead
Robinson became political poison within days and while he posted on X Monday that he planned to retain “aggressive legal counsel” to go after CNN, his allies have thrown him under the bus. It all makes sense when polling has shown how close the presidential race is in North Carolina and how the state’s 16 electoral votes could swing the election one way or the other.
A Sept. 23 New York Times-Siena College poll shows Trump holds a narrow lead of 49%-47% to Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump won the state in his 2016 win over Hillary Clinton and his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden, but the scandal plaguing Robinson could flip the state to Democrats for the first time since former President Barack Obama’s win in 2008.
Robinson is no Trump. He’s proven, unlike Trump, that he is just an ordinary politician. He cannot transcend felony convictions, multimillion-dollar civil judgments, infidelity and all sorts of outlandish and discredited statements such as accusing Haitian immigrants of eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio.
For GOP, as long as Trump wins, it doesn’t matter that Robinson loses
In fact, Robinson’s transgressions seem minor compared to Trump’s, yet as has been demonstrated again and again, the normal political rules do not apply to the former president. The aftermath is predictable: His most loyal supporters, including Lee, will only double down on their support to prove their devotion and loyalty even if Trump insults them.
Remember that after the Aug. 1 primary, Trump called Lee a RINO, or Republican In Name Only, because they happened to support different candidates in a state legislative race. Trump’s pick won and he wanted to rub it in the governor’s face.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is scheduled to headline a fundraiser to support embattled North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, following reports of lewd and inflammatory remarks made by Robinson on social media and porn sites prior to the start of his political career.
Lee chose restraint rather than confrontation when it came to Trump disparaging him, and avoiding a tit-for-tat with a 78-year-old social media-addled former president was the right decision in the long run.
So was withdrawing his endorsement of Robinson as cynical as it may appear in light of Lee’s continued support for Trump.
Voters in North Carolina and elsewhere are now in a position to determine whether rebuking one politician while enabling another is a winning strategy.
What we know for now is that Republicans are deeply afraid of losing North Carolina – and the entire election – for their standard bearer Trump.
And the governor’s race? Who really cares anymore anyway, right?
David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee. He is an editorial board member of The Tennessean. He hosts the Tennessee Voices videocast and curates the Tennessee Voices and Latino Tennessee Voices newsletters. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or find him on X at @davidplazas
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Opinion: Lee abandons Robinson following scandal, proves Trump loyalty
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Publish date : 2024-09-24 05:59:00
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