North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson speaks before Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally Saturday, March 2, 2024, in Greensboro, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
NORTH CAROLINA GOES SOUTH
Republicans wouldn’t call on their slavery-endorsing, porn-loving North Carolina gubernatorial candidate to drop out. Now, they’re giving up on him entirely.
- A bombshell report last week unearthed appalling messages Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R-NC) posted on a porn site’s message board before he entered politics. A few lowlights include Robinson saying that “some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it back” and that he would support Hitler over any elected official in Washington. Robinson denied that he posted the comments. This one seems pretty easy to denounce, right? Wrong! North Carolina’s GOP accused Democrats of trying to demonize him, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) hasn’t explicitly called for Robinson to drop out, and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) — who could be the next vice president — said it’s none of his business. Look, it’s not ANY of my business, but I still had to hear about it.
- Some Republicans are coming to their senses, though Robinson already missed a deadline to withdraw. On Monday, the Republican Governors Association announced that it has no plans to spend more money on electing Robinson. Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA), vice chair of the organization, said he won’t support the embattled candidate. Four of Robinson’s top campaign officials resigned. A new poll shows Robinson’s opponent, Attorney General Josh Stein (D-NC), leading by 14 percentage points (still concerning that 35 percent of registered voters back the self-proclaimed Black Nazi). During recent campaign stops in the Tar Heel state, former President Donald Trump and Vance didn’t utter Robinson’s name once, a clear attempt to keep the scandal at arm’s length without rescinding their support for him.
- Despite Robinson’s week being politically apocalyptic for him, the scandal doesn’t seem likely to tilt the presidential race toward Democrats significantly. North Carolinians have a history of voting for a Republican president while also electing a blue governor — a phenomenon called ticket-splitting — as they did with Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) in 2016. MAGAworld has already decided they’re comfortable with putting a convicted felon/sex offender in office, so it’s not too likely that Robinson’s case will be the final straw for Trump-curious swing voters.
- “In a sane world, a scandal like this might have made a difference to Trump’s election chances, but it doesn’t seem likely now,” writes Guardian columnist Arwa Mahdawi. “A sex offender endorsing a ‘perv’? It’s just another day in modern America,” she writes, referencing Trump’s past praise for Robinson.
Democratic politicians aren’t inherently saints — I’m looking at you, Gold Bar Bob Menendez. But the modern GOP is packed with alleged corrupt sex pests who find refuge among the far-right, making Robinson’s behavior a little less shocking. Sorry, GOP, you gotta carry this guy to term.
NOT OUR PROTECTOR
Donald Trump, who keeps flip-flopping on reproductive rights and could further restrict abortion access if elected president, told women that “I am your protector.” Is your skin crawling, too?
During a Monday night rally in Pennsylvania, Trump told the women in the crowd that, if he wins in November, “You will no longer be abandoned, lonely, or scared. You will no longer be in danger … You will be protected, and I will be your protector. Women will be happy, healthy, confident, and free. You will no longer be thinking about abortion.”
It’s a bizarre (read: desperate, deranged) pitch to a bloc of voters who largely favor Kamala Harris over him, and it’s definitely not going to soothe any pro-choice voters’ concerns about the dangers of a second Trump administration.
As Intelligencer’s Jonathan Chait describes it: “What makes it so creepy is that he implicitly acknowledges that women are reluctant to support him and that their disagreement over abortion is the reason. But rather than claim that his abortion stance is more reasonable than they assume or that they should vote on the basis of other issues — that is, the way you would try to win over a voter who has rational concerns — he presumes women are crazy.”
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NEWS NEWS NEWS
The Biden administration privately assessed that Israel deliberately blocked food and medicine from entering Gaza — but Secretary of State Antony Blinken told lawmakers that wasn’t the case, allowing the U.S. to keep sending weapons to Israel, ProPublica reports.
Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) said he won’t endorse Kamala Harris because of her promise to eliminate the filibuster to push through a bill codifying abortion rights. “Shame on her … She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy,” he told CNN. Though he’s retiring at the end of the year, Manchin’s endorsement is still influential among more moderate voters, and sentient lumps of coal.
The mastermind of Project 2025, the far-right policy agenda that Trump may implement if elected, allegedly told colleagues that he killed a dog with a shovel two decades ago because it was barking too much, the Guardian reports. Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts denied that killed the dog, saying the pitbull was instead restrained by its owner. This has been a terrible news cycle for animals.
Crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried and alleged human trafficker Sean “Diddy” Combs are literally sharing a dorm-style prison cell in Brooklyn. The vibes in there must be atrocious. It’s nice to know they’re probably having a terrible time!
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