Under the Dome: Mark Robinson on NC’s 2016 ‘bathroom bill’ and its aftermath

Vivienne Serret, Danielle Battaglia
·7 min read

Good morning! ☀️ The presidential campaigns continue to focus on North Carolina. Days after the latest Trump visit, Vice President Kamala Harris announced she is returning to the state.

Here’s what else you need to know in North Carolina politics today from our team and correspondent Stephanie Loder.

ROBINSON PRAISES REPUBLICANS ON ‘BATHROOM BILL’

In a press conference Monday morning, Democrats addressed Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s recent claim at a private lunch that Republicans “were right about HB2.”

House Bill 2 required people to use the bathroom that corresponded to their assigned sex at birth. The bill further blocked municipalities from passing non-discrimination ordinances. The bill was passed by the Republican-led General Assembly in 2016, and repealed by the legislature in 2017 after Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper was elected.

“Lt. Gov. Robinson is threatening all of the progress that our state has made,” House Democratic Leader Robert Reives said. “Whether it’s about abortion, education, LGBTQ rights or any of his numerous conspiracy theories.”

RNC National Committeeman Ed Broyhill uploaded to YouTube an 18-minute video that included Robinson’s comments, CBS 17 reported last week. The video has since been removed.

“We were right about HB2. We told them. You start letting these men go in these bathrooms, the next thing you know. What’s the next step after that? That’s exactly what we said. What’s the next step after that? Guess what the next step was: your daughter losing her scholarship to a biological man in swimming, volleyball, basketball,” Robinson said on video, as reported by CBS 17. “We were right on HB2 and continue to be right on it. The ideas that the left has is a bunch of foolishness. We don’t need to be ashamed to say it.”

A short clip was uploaded to X by American Bridge, a Democratic Super PAC.

“I don’t care what you think of me,” Robinson said. “I don’t care. Because here it is, it’s the bottom line. We’re right.”

“Why in the world should I be worried about what somebody who thinks that there’s 257 genders thinks of me? I don’t care what you think of me. I don’t care,” Robinson said.

Susan Sawin, the owner of three independent bookstores and a candidate running to represent House District 1 in northeastern North Carolina, said HB2 had a negative impact on thousands of businesses, including her own.

“HB2 killed jobs, drove businesses away and kept people from North Carolina,” Sawin said.

Michael Lonergan, Robinson’s communications director, told The News & Observer that “radical leftist Democrats like Reives, Joe Biden and Josh Stein want to force women and girls to share restrooms and locker rooms with men.”

“That’s dangerous and extreme. As governor, Mark Robinson will not allow that to happen. It’s just common sense,” Lonergan said.

HB2 was set to cost North Carolina more than $3.76 billion over 12 years in lost business, according to an analysis by the Associated Press in 2017. Today, Reives said North Carolina has become the top state for business for the second year in a row.

Reives said Robinson is running on an “even more extreme version” of a culture war agenda.

“The future of North Carolina is on the ballot this November,” Reives said.

North Carolina will hold its general election on Nov. 5, 2024.

– Vivienne Serret

WITH NO DEMOCRAT RUNNING, GOP SET TO FLIP 6TH DISTRICT

The National Republican Congressional Committee added North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District to its target list to flip in 2024.

It’s a safe bet for the organization, since Rep. Kathy Manning, a Democrat from Greensboro, chose not to run again after the state’s General Assembly, led by Republicans, redrew her district to favor their party. And Democrats chose not to run any other candidate in the district.

That meant whoever won the March 5 Republican primary will almost certainly be the next member of Congress to represent the area. That went to political newcomer Addison McDowell, a former lobbyist, who received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

“We are confident that Addison McDowell can deliver NC-06 to Republican hands this November,” said Delanie Bomar, spokeswoman for NRCC. “North Carolina is fed up with the Democrat failures and ready to elect Republicans throughout the state.”

The 6th district becomes the NRCC’s fourth target in the state. The organization is also targeting the 1st, 13 and 14th districts. Both the 13th and 14th were also drawn to favor Republicans, chasing away Democratic Reps. Wiley Nickel of Cary and Jeff Jackson of Charlotte from reelection bids.

The 1st Congressional District remains North Carolina’s only true swing district. It is currently represented by Rep. Don Davis, a Democrat from Snow Hill. Davis faces Army veteran Laurie Buckhout, a Republican from Edenton.

– Danielle Battaglia

DISAGREEMENT OVER TRUMP VERDICT, EVEN WHILE FISHING

Some retired judges and prosecutors were relaxing last week on an annual fishing trip at North Carolina’s Lake Hiawassee, but news of former President Donald Trump’s guilty verdict turned their conversations about the possible catch of the day into a debate about politics.

Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Dan Bishop and Democratic Rep. Jeff Jackson, two candidates for state attorney general, argued with each other on social media whether Trump’s trial was rigged.

The disagreements between the retirees fishing at the lake were not unlike the social media back-and-forth between Bishop and Jackson, said Tom Keith, former Forsyth County district attorney.

Trump, 77, was accused of paying adult film star Stormy Daniels hush-money so she wouldn’t talk about having sex with him and possibly influence the 2016 election.

Keith said the jury determined that Trump tried to “take a tax deduction for having sex with Stormy Daniels.”

“I think when it came down to it … every man on the street would be like, ‘Well, I can’t do that. That’s wrong,’” Keith said.

Get the full story from Danielle Battaglia here.

ARE YOU INVITED TO UNC STUDENTS ‘FLAGSTOCK’ PARTY?

UNC fraternity brothers who protected the American flag during recent campus protests are spending more than half a million dollars that was raised through a GoFundMe to celebrate their patriotism with a ‘rager’ of a party.

Here’s what to know about the Labor Day party:

  • The party is set for Sept. 2.

  • John Rich of the Big & Rich country music duo is providing entertainment.

  • The event is invite-only.

Gaza solidarity protesters camped out on the Chapel Hill campus in April, at one point lowering an American flag and replacing it with a Palestinian flag. Photographs show several students – many of them members of UNC’s Pi Kappa Phi fraternity – holding the flag off the ground.

Sen. Ted Budd praised the patriotic efforts by posting a photo on X of the students holding the flag with the statement: “Proud of these UNC students.”

The GoFundMe page was set up in May and sought to raise $15,000 to recognize the fraternity brothers. The fund amassed more than $516,672 with the help of three top donors who are identified as John Clark, Adam Sinn and William Ackman.

Get the full story from Josh Shaffer here.

That’s all for today. Check your inbox tomorrow for more #ncpol news.

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