As North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson reels from explosive allegations about his posts on the Nude Africa website, Donald Trump has found a cute stand-in to bring onstage at his rally in the state: his granddaughter Carolina.
Trump introduced his granddaughter, whose parents are Eric and Lara, at an outdoor rally in the crucial battleground that bears his name.
“Her name is Carolina, she’s beautiful, she’s sweet, and she doesn’t know how evil life is; she hasn’t experienced it yet,” Trump said as he introduced her. “Let’s make America great again,” he said as Trump lifted her up to a microphone, to cheers from MAGA supporters.
Then he brought his grandson Luke to the podium, surrounded by bulletproof glass, after a pair of assassination attempts. “Vote for Grandpa,” he said.
But Robinson, who is defending himself against accusations over his posts on race, sex and even slavery, was not among the dignitaries Trump mentioned. He didn’t mention him at all.
Trump holds his granddaughter Caroline in front of the microphone during the rally
Donald Trump rejects Kamala Harris’s proposal to hold another presidential debate just weeks before Election Day, he said at a rally in North Carolina on Saturday.
The family moment came after Trump said he rejects Kamala Harris’s proposal to hold another presidential debate just weeks before Election Day.
“It’s too late. I’d love to do it another way, but it’s too late,” Trump told the crowd gathered at the rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, with Trump Force One playing in the background after a dramatic drive-by.
He said Harris wants the debate “because she’s losing,” hours after her campaign adviser said she had accepted an invitation from CNN on Oct. 23 to debate.
With no debate on the horizon beyond a showdown between vice presidential candidates, the candidates will compete in an ongoing TV war, with Harris far outraising Trump in August but Trump’s big donors cashing huge checks to outside groups.
They will also hold dueling news conferences and interviews. Trump ridiculed Harris for her recent town hall-style event with Oprah Winfrey, playing a video mocking some of her verbal devices.
But Trump couldn’t help but attack President Biden, who is no longer running. Biden held his first Cabinet meeting in nearly a year on Friday.
“Is he the president? Because his wife took over the Cabinet meeting yesterday, right?” Trump said.
North Carolina is shaping up to be a must-win state for Trump, though Harris has been paying constant attention to it amid polls showing a very close race in Pennsylvania.
“If we win this state I think it will all be over quickly,” Trump predicted.
Trump held the outdoor rally just hours after an explosive report was released alleging that the state’s Republican governor, Mark Robinson, had made incendiary posts on the Nude Africa message board.
Trump was greeted with a raucous reception in Wilmington, North Carolina
Trump was in North Carolina to support gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, pictured at an earlier event on Aug. 14, 2024.
Trump singled out members of his family 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-Fla.) but did not mention the lieutenant governor, who is in hot water following explosive reports about her posts on a pornographic site.
The timing was not ideal. Robinson reportedly referred to himself as a “black Nazi,” while Trump has in the past praised him as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
Although Robinson was not present, Trump greeted several lawmakers from the stage, including North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd and Rep. Dan Bishop and several public officials, including Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.
He even introduced “Front Row Joes” and other Trump event regulars and a county commissioner, but did not mention the lieutenant governor in his introductory remarks.
This comes amid fears that Robinson’s implosion could hurt Republicans at all levels of the ticket.
Since Robinson was not present, Trump brought two grandchildren, the children of Eric and Lara Trump, on stage.
“Her name is Carolina and she’s beautiful and sweet and she doesn’t know how evil life is; she hasn’t experienced it yet,” Trump said as he introduced his granddaughter.
His grandson Luke gave a short speech on his grandfather’s behalf: “Vote for Grandpa,” he said.
Some Trump supporters are keen to part ways with Robinson, with one predicting that the fate of the two is now closely linked. “If things go badly for Robinson, things go badly for Trump,” Trump supporter Patty O’Neil told DailyMail.com outside the rally.
Robinson was facing pressure even from fellow Republicans to drop out of the race in the hours before CNN published the report on Thursday.
His alleged “inflammatory” comments included Robinson calling himself a “pervert,” describing “spying” on women when he was 14 and declaring he likes “watching shemale and girl on girl porn.”
Other incendiary or racist comments included the statement “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 would definitely buy some.”
Trump predicted he would win North Carolina in November, adding that he believes “it will all be over quickly.”
Law enforcement officers take up positions on a rooftop at the North Carolina event
MAGA fans lining up for an outdoor rally Saturday were keen on the salacious allegations, with some saying they would not support the Republican official.
“I’ve been following politics for a while. I think Mark Robinson is the October surprise,” said Patty O’Neil, who runs a pet-sitting business in Wilmington.
“Mark Robinson is a very conservative, independent-thinking black man, and there are a lot of people who want to overthrow him. Think of Herschel Walker,” he said, mentioning the Georgia Republican football star whose Trump-backed campaign imploded.
“The concern I have, and it probably shouldn’t be said out loud, is that the Republican Party needs to stand behind these black conservatives, period. If things go badly for Robinson, things go badly for Trump,” he said.
Kevin Ibanez, a Long Island transplant and retired Suffolk County police officer, says he’s ready to let the controversial figure go amid the latest reports.
“I don’t think I’m going to vote for him. He’s a grown man going on a pornographic website. I could just ignore that,” she said. “You shouldn’t be on that pornographic website. Come on! You’re a grown man,” she said on her way to a Trump rally.
But Ibanez is more forgiving of Donald Trump.
“He’s crazy sometimes, but it’s what’s best for our country. I wish he could calm down his rhetoric a little bit, calm down,” she said. “It is what it is.”
Trump and Robinson pictured together at a rally in North Carolina on August 21, 2024
Raymond Bebb, a Pittsburgh native and Steelers fan, was aware of the latest allegations.
“I’m not happy with what I’ve heard, but we’ll see if he resigns.”
We tend to shoot ourselves in both feet,’ he said.
“When you see crowds like this, and the crowds he’s drawing on his visits to North Carolina, I think we’re ready for a new era.”
Robinson denied the report, calling it salacious “sensationalist rubbish.”
In a video before it came out, Robinson said: “Let me assure you that the things you’re going to see in that story 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 running mate JD Vance’s event in the state on Wednesday.