While North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is still reeling from explosive allegations over his posts on the website Nude Africa, Donald Trump has found an adorable stand-in to bring to his rally in the state: granddaughter Carolina.
Trump introduced his granddaughter, Eric and Lara, at an outdoor gathering at the landmark battlefield that bears her name.
“Her name is Carolina and she’s beautiful and sweet and she doesn’t know how bad life is — she hasn’t been through it,” Trump said as he introduced her. “Make America Great Again,” she said as Trump lifted her to a microphone, to cheers from the MAGA faithful.
Then he brought his grandson Luke to the podium, surrounded by bulletproof glass after a couple of assassination attempts. “Vote for Grandpa,” he said.
But Robinson, who has fended off accusations about his posts on race and sex and even slavery, was not among the dignitaries Trump mentioned by name. He didn’t mention him at all.
Trump holds his granddaughter Carolina at the microphone during the rally
Donald Trump rejected Kamala Harris’ proposal for a new presidential debate just weeks before Election Day, he told a rally in North Carolina on Saturday
The family moment came after Trump announced, just weeks before Election Day, that he would reject Kamala Harris’s offer for a new presidential debate.
“It’s too late. I’d like to do one more, but it’s too late,” Trump told the crowd in Wilmington, North Carolina, with “Trump Force One” in the background after a dramatic fly-by.
He said Harris wants the debate “because she’s losing,” hours after her campaign adviser said she had accepted an invitation from CNN for an Oct. 23 debate.
With no debate on the horizon save for a vice presidential showdown, the candidates are battling it out in an ongoing televised war, with Harris far outraising Trump in August but Trump’s big donors providing large sums to outside parties.
They will also hold dueling press conferences and interviews. Trump mocked Harris for her recent town hall-style event with Oprah Winfrey, and he played a video in which he ridiculed some of her verbal quips.
But Trump couldn’t resist criticizing President Biden, who is no longer running. Biden held his first full Cabinet meeting in nearly a year on Friday.
“Is he the president? Because yesterday his wife took over the cabinet meeting, right?” Trump said.
North Carolina is emerging as a state that Trump almost has to win, though Harris is also paying increasing attention as polls show a very close race in Pennsylvania.
“If we win this state, I think it will be over quickly,” Trump predicted.
Trump held the outdoor rally just hours after a shocking report alleged that the state’s Republican Governor Mark Robinson had posted inflammatory messages on the Nude Africa forum.
Trump is greeted with a raucous reception in Wilmington, North Carolina
Trump was in North Carolina to support beleaguered gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, pictured at an earlier event on August 14, 2024
Trump specifically pointed to family members in the crowd, including RNC co-chair Lara Trump
Luke Trump urged people to vote for his grandfather
Trump also introduced Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), but made no mention of the beleaguered lieutenant governor after shocking reports of his posts on a porn site
The timing wasn’t ideal. Robinson reportedly called himself a “Black NAZI!” while Trump had previously praised him as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
Although Robinson was not present, Trump acknowledged several lawmakers from the podium, including Sen. Ted Budd of North Carolina and Rep. Dan Bishop, and several administration officials, including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida.
He even introduced “front row Joes” and other Trump rally regulars and a county commissioner, but he made no mention of the lieutenant governor in his opening remarks.
It comes amid concerns that Robinson’s implosion could be damaging to Republicans regardless of constituency.
In the absence of Robinson, Trump brought two grandchildren, the children of Eric and Lara Trump, on stage with him.
“Her name is Carolina and she’s beautiful and sweet and she doesn’t know how bad life is — she hasn’t been through it yet,” Trump said as he introduced his granddaughter.
Grandson Luke gave a short speech for his grandfather. “Vote for Grandpa,” he said.
Some Trump supporters are ready to split Robinson, with one predicting that the fates of the two men are now closely linked. “If Robinson goes bad, Trump goes bad,” Trump supporter Patty O’Neil told DailyMail.com outside the rally.
Even fellow Republicans pressured Robinson to withdraw from the race just before CNN published the report on Thursday.
His alleged “inflammatory” comments included Robinson calling himself a “pervert,” that he “peeped” at women at age 14 and that he enjoyed “watching tranny-on-girl porn.”
Other inflammatory or racist comments included, “I’m a black Nazi!” and writing, “Slavery isn’t bad. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it back. I’d definitely buy some.”
Trump predicted he would win North Carolina in November, adding that he thinks “it will be over quickly”
Police take up position on a rooftop during the event in North Carolina
MAGA fans who lined up for an outdoor rally on Saturday were focused on the racy accusations, with some even saying they wouldn’t support the Republican incumbent.
“I’ve been following politics for a while. I think Mark Robinson is the surprise of October,” said Patty O’Neil, who runs a pet-sitting business in Wilmington.
“Mark Robinson is a very conservative, independent-minded black man, and there are plenty of people who want to beat him. Let’s think about Herschel Walker,” she said, referring to the Republican football star from Georgia whose Trump-backed campaign imploded.
“The concern that I have, and I probably shouldn’t say it out loud, is that the Republican Party needs to stand with these black conservatives, period. If Robinson is bad, Trump is bad,” she said.
Kevin Ibanez, a Long Island native and retired Suffolk County police officer, says he’s prepared to let the controversial figure go given the latest reports.
“I don’t think I’m going to vote for him. He’s a grown man on a porn website. I can skip him,” he said. “You shouldn’t be on this porn website. Come on! You’re a grown man,” he said on his way to a Trump rally.
But Ibanez is more forgiving towards Donald Trump.
“He’s a fool sometimes. But he’s the best for our country. I wish he could tone down his rhetoric a little bit. Just calm down,” he said. “He is who he is.”
Trump and Robinson pictured together at a rally in North Carolina on August 21, 2024
Raymond Bebb, originally from Pittsburgh and wearing a Steelers uniform, was aware of the latest allegations.
“I’m not happy with what I’ve heard, but we’ll see if he steps down.”
“We tend to shoot ourselves in both feet,” he said.
“When you see crowds like this, and the crowds he draws everywhere he goes to North Carolina, I think we’re ready for a new era.”
Robinson denied the report, calling it “inappropriate tabloid trash.”
In a video before it came out, Robinson said, “Let me reassure you, the things that you’re going to see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson. You know my words, you know my character, and you know that I’ve been completely transparent in this race and before.”
He also skipped Trump’s running mate JD Vance’s event in the state on Wednesday after a TV ad aired in which Trump praised him.
Harris’ campaign produced a new memo linking Trump and Robinson. “Donald Trump’s and Mark Robinson’s fortunes in North Carolina are intertwined,” the memo said.
