WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump On Thursday, he denounced anti-Semitism a few hours after a CNN’s explosive report He detailed how one of his allies running for governor of North Carolina made a series of racist and sexual comments on a website where he also called himself a “black NAZI.”
North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson The Republican nominee has vowed to stay in the race despite the report, and Trump’s campaign appears to be distancing itself from the candidate while viewing the swing state as a key to winning back the White House. Trump has often voiced support for Robinson, who is seen as a rising star in his party despite a history of inflammatory remarks on race and abortion.
Trump did not comment on the allegations during his speech Thursday to a group of Jewish donors and the Israeli-American Council in Washington. His campaign issued a statement on the CNN story that did not mention Robinson, saying instead that Trump is “focused on winning the White House and saving this country” and that North Carolina was “a critical part of that plan.”
Robinson’s reported remarks — including a 2012 comment in which he said he preferred Adolf Hitler to Washington’s leaders — clash with Trump’s denunciations of anti-Semitism in Washington and his claims that Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, sympathizes with enemies of Israel. The story could also threaten Trump’s chances of winning North Carolina, a key swing state, as Robinson already trails his Democratic opponent in polls.
“This story is not about the North Carolina governor’s race. It’s about the presidential race,” said Paul Shumaker, a Republican pollster who worked for Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and warned that Trump could risk losing a state he won in 2016 and 2020.
“The question will be, will Mark Robinson cost Donald Trump the White House?” Shumaker added.
After the allegations against Robinson were made public, a Harris campaign spokesman, Ammar Moussa, reposted a photo of Trump and the embattled candidate on social media. “Donald Trump has a problem with Mark Robinson,” he wrote.
The North Carolina Republican Party released a statement supporting Robinson, noting that he “categorically denied the allegations made by CNN, but that won’t stop the left from trying to demonize him with personal attacks.”
Trump has sought to gain traction with black voters and has often allied himself with Robinson throughout his campaign, which has increasingly taken him to North Carolina. At a rally in Greensboro, he called Robinson “Martin Luther King on steroids,” a reference to the civil rights leader, for his oratory skills.
Robinson was on Trump’s trail as recently as last month, when he appeared with the Republican candidate at an event in Asheboro, North Carolina.
Recent polls of North Carolina voters show Trump and Harris in a tight race. The same polls show Democrat Josh Stein with a lead of about 10 points over Robinson.
Trump recounts his White House record to his Jewish supporters
Both Trump and Harris, the Democratic candidate, were make appearances intended to motivate their core supporters, with Harris participate in a livestream with Oprah Winfrey.
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Trump appeared Thursday with Miriam Adelsonco-owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and widow of billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
“My promise to American Jews is this: With your vote, I will be your defender, your protector, and I will be the best friend American Jews have ever had in the White House,” Trump said at the donor event in Washington, titled “Combating Anti-Semitism in America.”
“But in all honesty, I already am,” Trump added.
Trump has also been criticized for his association with extremists who spread anti-Semitic rhetoric, such as far-right activist Nick Fuentes and rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. And when former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke endorsed Trump in 2016, Trump responded in a CNN interview that he knew “nothing about David Duke, I know nothing about white supremacists.”
But during his four years in office, Trump has endorsed a series of policy changes long sought by many Israel advocates, such as moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognizing Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights.
In his remarks, Trump criticized Harris for the Biden administration’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas and for what he called anti-Semitic protests on college campuses and elsewhere.
“Kamala Harris has done absolutely nothing. She has not lifted a finger to protect you or to protect your children,” Trump said. He also repeated a talking point that Jewish voters who vote for Democrats “should get their heads examined.”
Several attendees at the event said they were unaware of Robinson’s story or declined to discuss it. Representative Virginia Foxx, a conservative Republican from North Carolina who was asked about the CNN report beforehand, told reporters she would not take questions.
Later Thursday, Trump spoke at the Israeli-American Council’s national summit to honor the victims of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and painted a bleak future for the nation if Harris is elected.
“Israel will no longer exist within two years if she becomes president,” he told the crowd, adding that if he lost the presidential election to her on November 5, “the Jewish people will have a lot to do with it.”
Harris Denied Support From Liberals Who Want Ceasefire
Harris faced pressure from parts of her liberal base on Thursday over the war. Leaders of the Democratic protest movement “Uncommitted” said the group would not approve Harris also urged her supporters to vote against Trump. The group, which opposes the Biden administration’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a halt to U.S. arms transfers to Israel.
“Uncommitted” drew hundreds of thousands of votes in this year’s Democratic primaries, deepening a divide within the party. The group warned that some Democratic voters might stay home in November, particularly in places like Michigan.
Harris’ campaign did not directly respond to the group’s announcement, but said in a statement that it “will continue to work to end the war in Gaza so that Israel is safe, the hostages are freed, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.”
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Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Associated Press writer Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.
