At NC rally, Trump endorses Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson in governor’s race
An expected endorsement from former President Donald Trump for Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson in the North Carolina governor’s race came on Saturday during a Trump rally in Greensboro.
Trump said Robinson had his “complete and total endorsement.”
Trump was campaigning in North Carolina ahead of Super Tuesday, March 5, when N.C. and several other states hold their primaries. Earlier in the day in Raleigh, Trump’s primary opponent former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley told supporters at a rally at Union Station that she would have a better chance than Trump of defeating President Joe Biden this fall.
Trump had already endorsed other North Carolina candidates, including N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore, who is running for Congress.
“On Tuesday, get out and vote for Mark Robinson for governor, Dan Bishop for attorney general, and Virginia Foxx, Tim Moore and Addison McDowell for Congress. They have my complete and total endorsement, get out there and vote,” Trump told supporters in Greensboro.
Robinson ‘humbled’ by endorsement
“What an honor to welcome President Donald Trump to my hometown of Greensboro today! I am humbled to have his endorsement,” Robinson said in a statement on Saturday afternoon.
“The failed Biden-Stein agenda of the Democrat Party has brought our country to crisis. We need more bold fighters like Donald Trump. I look forward to partnering with him to take on the failed Biden-Stein agenda, lead our united Republican ticket to victory in November, and get our state and country back on track,” Robinson said.
The frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for governor is Attorney General Josh Stein.
The endorsement from Trump came about three months after Trump held a fundraiser with Robinson at his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. Trump told supporters how much he liked Robinson, but stopped short of endorsing him.
While Robinson and Trump are already aligned with the MAGA wing of the Republican Party, an endorsement from Trump could still help Robinson.
With what’s shaping up to be a rematch in November between Biden and Trump, which one of them wins over North Carolina voters could also determine who wins the White House. Robinson is the Republican primary frontrunner over State Treasurer Dale Folwell and attorney Bill Graham.
Republican Dallas Woodhouse, the state director of conservative organizing group American Majority, told The News & Observer this week that past elections show that Stein is the slight favorite to win in November. The largest factor, he said, is the top of the ticket.
“Republicans can’t win the White House without North Carolina,” Woodhouse said.
Early polling from the Meredith Poll and others show Trump and Stein ahead with North Carolina voters.
Democrats were quick to criticize Robinson. N.C. Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton said in a statement that Robinson has “used hate to divide us and made clear that he is all-in on restricting reproductive freedoms in North Carolina. Our state needs a leader who will bring people together and do the hard work of governing, not prioritize job-killing culture wars that take our state backward.”
