Crowd Rains Down Boos on Reporter for Asking Vance If Trump Campaign Still Endorses Embattled Mark Robinson
A crowd in North Carolina relentlessly booed a reporter who asked Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance about Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson.
Robinson, an already controversial figure, was endorsed by former President Donald Trump to be governor of North Carolina. The lieutenant governor’s extreme rhetoric was no obstacle as he handily won the GOP primary. However, last week CNN published an explosive report about comments he made in a forum on a porn site called Nude Africa. In various posts, Robinson described himself as a “black NAZI,” said, “Slavery is not bad,” and wrote in 2012 that he’d “take Hitler over any of the sh*t that’s in Washington right now!”
Robinson made the Hitler comment when Barack Obama was president. The lieutenant governor denies he made the remarks.
Trump has yet to speak publicly about the matter and did not mention Robinson during a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina on Saturday.
During a rally in Charlotte on Monday, the Ohio senator was asked by a reporter if the campaign still stands by the embattled lieutenant governor.
“Does the Trump campaign still endorse Mark Robinson?” she asked. The reporter continued to speak but was drowned out by the sound of jeers and boos from the audience.
The booing lasted for about 20 seconds as the reporter tried to ask another question.
“Go ahead, kid,” Vance said. “Go ahead.”
“Second question is about your debate prep,” she said, pivoting to Vance’s upcoming debate with his Democratic counterpart, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, on Oct. 1. “It’s been reported that you are enlisting the help of [House Majority Whip] Tom Emmer to sit in for Tim Walz. Can you talk about that choice and how you’re preparing for the debate?”
The senator replied by praising Emmer and stating he has not yet started doing mock debates with the congressman. Vance then turned to the reporter’s first question.
Vance complained that the reporter’s question was the third time he was asked about Robinson.
“As I’ve said, that is Mark Robinson’s case to make to the people of North Carolina,” he said. “I’m not gonna make it for him. The people of North Carolina, they get to be the judges of whether they believe him or not.”
Watch above via PBS.
