The North Carolina Republican Party is facing one of the most predictable crises in the history of party politics.
Its primary voters enthusiastically supported a candidate for governor named Mark Robinson — voting for him by a more than 45-point margin over his closest rival (he won by 64.8 percent to 19.2 percent) — even though he had a remarkable record of deeply inflammatory and even unhinged statements.
Last week, a comprehensive CNN report unearthed compelling evidence that Robinson had posted on a porn site called Nude Africa. I cannot possibly repeat the worst posts, but the less graphically obscene ones included statements like this: “I’m a Black Nazi,” and “Slavery is not bad. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it back. I would certainly buy a few.”
That’s not all. “I’m not in the K.K.K.,” he also said, according to the CNN report. “They don’t let Blacks join. If I was in the K.K.K. I would have called him Martin Lucifer Koon!” He said he’d prefer Hitler to what he sees in Washington today.
No one, however, should be surprised. Even before the primary, Robinson’s horrific character was on display. Among other things, he had called school shooting survivors who advocated gun control “media prosti-tots,” accused Michelle Obama of being a man, and trafficked in so many antisemitic tropes that his election as lieutenant governor in 2020 was an alarm bell for Jewish leaders in the state.
In other words, Republican voters knew he was a bad man when they chose him. Now they know he is a very bad man.
Yet North Carolina Republicans are doubling down. Robinson has denied that the posts are his — but without addressing any of the evidence showing that the postings match screen names he’s used, match his email address and match key biographical details. To the G.O.P., the real problem was the report. The party issued a statement saying that “the Left can try to smear” Robinson “all they want” and “demonize him via personal attacks.”
What makes the situation all the more grievous, at least for me, is that Robinson is running as an outspoken evangelical. One of his spokesmen, Mike Lonergan, has described him as “very bold and outspoken about his Christian faith.”
The entire situation was so embarrassing for North Carolina Republicans that it prompted Ben Shapiro to post, “Perhaps the American primary voter should start nominating normies for high office. I dunno. Just a thought.” Yet Shapiro announced earlier this year that he would co-host a fund-raiser for Trump, and Robinson — and others like him — thrives in the Republican Party precisely because of Trump.
Much of the commentary about Robinson’s posts has centered on his impact on the presidential election. Will Robinson’s scandals drag down Trump in a key swing state? I’m dubious. Voters have long shown that they’re more likely to support Trump than any of his acolytes or imitators.
Down-ballot MAGA nominees trail Trump significantly in the polls. Before these revelations, FiveThirtyEight had Trump up by 0.1 percent. Robinson, by contrast, was losing by 5 to 14 points. In Arizona, FiveThirtyEight has Trump up by 0.5 percent. Kari Lake, the MAGA nominee for Senate, trails her Democratic opponent Ruben Gallego by substantially greater margins.
In 2022, Trump’s collection of cranks and conspiracy theorists proved that they can lose race after race, even when Democratic approval ratings are low.
While I’m interested in Robinson’s potential impact on the presidential race, I’m also concerned with the ongoing impact of MAGA on the heart of the Republican Party. Last month, I wrote a column endorsing Kamala Harris for the presidency, in large part because I believe that a Harris victory gives Republicans “a chance to build something decent” from the ruins of a Trump defeat.
After enduring weeks of lies about the Haitian immigrants who live in Springfield, Ohio, and an entire news cycle devoted to covering Trump’s connection with Laura Loomer, one of the most overtly racist figures in MAGA America (she once spoke at a conference of white nationalists and declared, “I consider myself to be a white advocate, and I openly campaigned for the United States Congress as a white advocate”) — I’m hardening my view. Trump loses now or the Republicans are lost for a generation. Maybe more………
MAGA Wants Transgression, and This Is What Comes With It
The North Carolina Republican Party is facing one of the most predictable crises in the history of party politics.
Its primary voters enthusiastically supported a candidate for governor named Mark Robinson — voting for him by a more than 45-point margin over his closest rival (he won by 64.8 percent to 19.2 percent) — even though he had a remarkable record of deeply inflammatory and even unhinged statements.
Last week, a comprehensive CNN report unearthed compelling evidence that Robinson had posted on a porn site called Nude Africa. I cannot possibly repeat the worst posts, but the less graphically obscene ones included statements like this: “I’m a Black Nazi,” and “Slavery is not bad. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it back. I would certainly buy a few.”
That’s not all. “I’m not in the K.K.K.,” he also said, according to the CNN report. “They don’t let Blacks join. If I was in the K.K.K. I would have called him Martin Lucifer Koon!” He said he’d prefer Hitler to what he sees in Washington today.
No one, however, should be surprised. Even before the primary, Robinson’s horrific character was on display. Among other things, he had called school shooting survivors who advocated gun control “media prosti-tots,” accused Michelle Obama of being a man, and trafficked in so many antisemitic tropes that his election as lieutenant governor in 2020 was an alarm bell for Jewish leaders in the state.
In other words, Republican voters knew he was a bad man when they chose him. Now they know he is a very bad man.
Yet North Carolina Republicans are doubling down. Robinson has denied that the posts are his — but without addressing any of the evidence showing that the postings match screen names he’s used, match his email address and match key biographical details. To the G.O.P., the real problem was the report. The party issued a statement saying that “the Left can try to smear” Robinson “all they want” and “demonize him via personal attacks.”
What makes the situation all the more grievous, at least for me, is that Robinson is running as an outspoken evangelical. One of his spokesmen, Mike Lonergan, has described him as “very bold and outspoken about his Christian faith.”
The entire situation was so embarrassing for North Carolina Republicans that it prompted Ben Shapiro to post, “Perhaps the American primary voter should start nominating normies for high office. I dunno. Just a thought.” Yet Shapiro announced earlier this year that he would co-host a fund-raiser for Trump, and Robinson — and others like him — thrives in the Republican Party precisely because of Trump.
Much of the commentary about Robinson’s posts has centered on his impact on the presidential election. Will Robinson’s scandals drag down Trump in a key swing state? I’m dubious. Voters have long shown that they’re more likely to support Trump than any of his acolytes or imitators.
Down-ballot MAGA nominees trail Trump significantly in the polls. Before these revelations, FiveThirtyEight had Trump up by 0.1 percent. Robinson, by contrast, was losing by 5 to 14 points. In Arizona, FiveThirtyEight has Trump up by 0.5 percent. Kari Lake, the MAGA nominee for Senate, trails her Democratic opponent Ruben Gallego by substantially greater margins.
In 2022, Trump’s collection of cranks and conspiracy theorists proved that they can lose race after race, even when Democratic approval ratings are low.
While I’m interested in Robinson’s potential impact on the presidential race, I’m also concerned with the ongoing impact of MAGA on the heart of the Republican Party. Last month, I wrote a column endorsing Kamala Harris for the presidency, in large part because I believe that a Harris victory gives Republicans “a chance to build something decent” from the ruins of a Trump defeat.
After enduring weeks of lies about the Haitian immigrants who live in Springfield, Ohio, and an entire news cycle devoted to covering Trump’s connection with Laura Loomer, one of the most overtly racist figures in MAGA America (she once spoke at a conference of white nationalists and declared, “I consider myself to be a white advocate, and I openly campaigned for the United States Congress as a white advocate”) — I’m hardening my view. Trump loses now or the Republicans are lost for a generation. Maybe more………