RALEIGH, N.C. – Former president Donald Trump recommended North Carolina Lt. Gov Mark Robinson for governor on Saturday, a number of months after the previous president pledged to achieve this.
At a rally on the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, the previous president additionally when put next Robinson, who’s Black, to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the famed civil rights chief. He referred to Robinson as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
Trump mentioned Robinson wasn’t certain how to reply when Trump when put next him to the mythical civil rights chief, telling him: “I think you’re better than Martin Luther King. I think you are Martin Luther King times two.”
“You should like it,” Trump mentioned.
Trump indexed Robinson amongst a number of applicants that individuals will have to vote for in Tuesday’s North Carolina Republican primaries, pronouncing “they have my complete and total endorsement.” Trump is also on the primary ballot as he seeks to all but eliminate his last remaining rival, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, from mathematical contention for the GOP nomination.
Despite the lack of a formal endorsement, the ex-president’s support combined with strong fundraising and popularity among the GOP’s base have helped make Robinson the GOP’s front-runner for the gubernatorial nomination.
Robinson’s primary rivals — State Treasurer Dale Folwell and trial attorney Bill Graham — have questioned his ability to win the general election in November, particularly in light of harsh comments on LGBTQ+ rights and other issues.
Trump called Robinson, who also spoke at Saturday’s rally, an “incredible gentleman” and “great, natural speaker.” Trump recalled, with some imprecision, how Robinson rose to repute following a 2018 speech to the Greensboro City Council in beef up of gun rights and police that went viral.
That led Robinson to a National Rifle Association board place and being elected the state’s first Black lieutenant governor in 2020 in his first bid for public administrative center.
Robinson, a Greensboro local, mentioned in a news unencumber that he was once “humbled” to have Trump’s endorsement and seemed ahead to running with Trump to “lead our united Republican ticket to victory in November, and get our state and country back on track.”
Voters also will choose a Democratic nominee for governor on Tuesday. The field includes Attorney General Josh Stein and former state Supreme Court Associate Justice Mike Morgan. Term-limited Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper endorsed Stein months ago.
State Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton said the endorsement wasn’t a surprise. North Carolina doesn’t need a leader in Robinson who would “prioritize job-killing culture wars that take our state backward,” she added in a news unencumber.
Statewide elections are in most cases shut affairs within the country’s ninth-largest state.
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Associated Press author Jill Colvin in Greensboro, North Carolina, contributed to this record.
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