Mark Robinson was his usual blunt self Tuesday when he spoke to supporters in Whiteville.
“Governor Roy Cooper doesn’t like me,” the lt. governor said. “I don’t like Roy Cooper. But imagine what effect it would have if Roy Cooper and Mark Robinson were unloading water side by side in one of our communities that had been hit by the hurricane.”
Robinson was elected the state’s first black lieutenant governor after a video of him defending gun rights before the Greensboro City Council made national news in 2018. He handily defeated Yvonne Lewis for the state’s second highest seat in 2020. He is the first black major nominee for governor in the state’s history.
Robinson put his gubernatorial campaign on hold for a week while coordinating hurricane relief efforts in the wake of Helene. While he largely avoided politics during the hiatus, he wasted no time on his return criticizing his opponent, Attorney General Josh Stein, and Cooper for attending fundraisers “while people were losing their homes and dying in Western North Carolina.
“They should have had resources on the ground, and been ready – not been in New York attending a fundraiser while a storm was bearing down on our state. They were playing politics when they could have been getting ready.
“What I have seen out there is not party politics,” Robinson said. “I saw people helping people. But some people have chosen to play politics when the people of North Carolina need their help.”
Robinson chastised Cooper for a “lack of leadership” leading up to the storm, which so far has a confirmed death toll of 88, with hundreds of people still missing.
“There should have been resources on the ground, ready to go,” he said. “We should have been ready before Helene came to our state.
“Somebody asked what I would have done,” Robinson continued. “If Mark Robinson had been governor, there would have been a council of state meeting called before the hurricane hit, not afterward, and there wouldn’t have been discussion over a resolution. The meeting would have been to find out what resources we had available, and what it would take to get them where they would do the most good. People were depending on the state of North Carolina, and Cooper’s government let them down.”
Robinson praised the efforts of civilian volunteers who have turned out since before the storm was even finished. He noted the firefighters, churches and helicopter pilots who “are doing this out of their own pockets, not waiting for the government to help.
“They have made me extra proud to be a North Carolinian,” Robinson said.
Robinson asked that voters compare his actions in recent weeks to those of his opponent.
“While Mark Robinson was on the ground, what was Josh Stein doing?” he said. “He was suing TikTok. TikTok is getting our children hooked – so why isn’t Stein doing something about the drug dealers who are really hurting our children.
“Statistically, right now, someone from Columbus County could be buying the fentanyl that will kill them,” Robinson told the crowd, noting the rising number of overdose deaths in the state. “Right this moment, a father, a mother, a sister, a brother, a child is buying the drug that will prevent them from ever going home. Something must be done about the fentanyl crisis in North Carolina. The drug dealer down the street doesn’t worry about somebody using ugly words. The gangsters cutting the heads off people (in Mexico) are not worried about hurting people’s feelings. Yet we have politicians who want to be nice, they’re worried about what some poll will say, or what somebody is going to post on Facebook.
“The time for being nice is over. It’s not what we need if we are going to save our children and our communities.”
Robinson repeatedly enjoined the group to “go to the polls October 17,” referring to the start of Early Voting.
“Election Day is October 17,” he said. “If you know somebody who isn’t registered to vote, they need to be registered now. We all need to vote as quickly as we can…I don’t like Early Voting, but we have it, so we need to use it.”
Reporters were given a few minutes with Robinson after the event. He brushed off questions about allegations that he spent time on a pornographic website more than a decade ago. Graphic sexual and racist posts attributed to Robinson were shared by CNN and WRAL. Is campaign has dismissed the posts as being generated with artificial intelligence.
“Look, we have a lawyer handling that,” he said. “I expect we’ll be making a big announcement pretty soon.”
He also criticized an announcement by the Biden Administration this week that hundreds of millions of dollars would be going to humanitarian efforts in Lebanon.
“Why isn’t that money in North Carolina or the other states hit by Helene?” he said. “That money should have been redirected at home before it went overseas.”
Robinson said if he is elected, he intends to maintain an open door policy to both sides of the political fence.
“I intend to build collaboration,” he said. “When we work together, we can accomplish what’s best for our state. We can do it when we put the politics aside and work together for what matters.”
Update 10-08-24
Video – Mark Robinson addresses his supporters at Dale’s Seafood in Whiteville, NC
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