(Wilmington) Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed Saturday to be a greater champion of women’s causes than his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris at a rally in North Carolina.
Mr. Trump campaigned in Wilmington without Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican gubernatorial candidate and one of the former president’s top spokesmen in the state.
A CNN report recently exposed alleged posts on a pornographic forum. Donald Trump also did not mention Mr. Robinson during his speech, which lasted just over an hour.
PHOTO JAMIE KELTER DAVIS, THE NEW YORK TIMES ARCHIVES
North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson
Mr Robinson denied writing the messages, which included obscene and racist comments, saying on Thursday he would not be pressured out of the race by “salacious tabloid lies”.
Mr. Trump’s campaign team appeared to distance itself from Mr. Robinson following the CNN report, which the AP has not independently verified.
Democrats seized the opportunity to highlight the ties between Trump and Robinson, with billboards showing the two together, as well as a new ad from Kamala Harris’ campaign highlighting the Republican candidates’ ties.
Abortion
PHOTO BRIAN SNYDER, REUTERS
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump
At his first outdoor rally since the second assassination attempt on his life, Donald Trump said women would be safer and more prosperous with him as president and would “not think about abortion.”
“I will protect women on a level that has never been seen before. They will finally be healthy, hopeful, safe and secure,” the former president said. “Their lives will be happy, beautiful and their lives will be great again. Women, we love you, we will take care of you.”
North Carolina banned most abortions after 12 weeks last year, after state Republicans overrode a veto by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
Voters overwhelmingly say they trust Mr.me Harris to do a better job handling abortion policy, with 55% favoring her while 27% favored Donald Trump in a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The former president also showed a softer side, inviting two of his young grandchildren on stage. Mr. Trump brought Carolina to the microphone, where she repeated her grandfather’s slogan, “Make America great again,” to cheers. His older brother, Luke Trump, then urged the crowd to “vote for Grandpa.” They are the children of Eric Trump, the former president’s second son, and his wife, Lara Trump, a North Carolina native who is now co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
Bulletproof glass surrounded Donald Trump as he spoke, a new precaution for outdoor venues put in place by the Secret Service after a bullet grazed Trump’s ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The Importance of North Carolina
PHOTO HAIYUN JIANG, THE NEW YORK TIMES
Donald Trump introduced his granddaughter, Carolina Trump, to the crowd on Saturday.
A Republican has won North Carolina in every general election since 1976 except one, when Barack Obama won the state in 2008. Mr. Trump won there in his two previous campaigns, but by less than 1.5 percentage points over Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, the narrowest margin of any state won by Republicans. That’s partly why Democrats see the state as a potential win this fall.
Mr. Robinson has become a natural surrogate for former President Trump in the state and a frequent presence in the Republican campaign. Mr. Trump has long praised Mr. Robinson, who is black, calling him “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
Endorsing Mr. Robinson ahead of the Republican primary for governor, Mr. Trump continued: “I think you’re better than Martin Luther King. I think you’re Martin Luther King squared.”
Mr Robinson has a long history of inflammatory comments, including suggesting that women seeking abortions “weren’t responsible enough to keep their skirts down” and comparing abortion to slavery.