Vice President Harris’s campaign’s unveiled an ad Friday highlighting former President Trump’s praise for North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R), seeking to link the two Republicans following a bombshell CNN report on the gubernatorial candidate.
The 30-second spot, titled “Both Wrong,” includes clips from Trump talking about Robinson, calling him “better” than the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., “outstanding,” and saying “he’s been an unbelievable lieutenant governor.”
The ad, first reported by CNN, also includes clips of Robinson talking about his hard-right views on abortion. And, it argues: “Donald Trump and Mark Robinson, they’re both wrong for North Carolina.”
Harris’s campaign has been eying North Carolina, a state Trump won in 2016 and 2020, as a flip this cycle. Trump has a 0.5 percentage point lead over Harris in North Carolina, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ aggregate of polls.
Just after the CNN report on Robinson, which unveiled a large span of inflammatory comments that Robinson reportedly made on a pornography website’s message board more than 10 years ago, Harris’s campaign posted a video on the social platform X of clips of Trump praising Robinson.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has also launched ads linking Trump and Robinson, saying it is “blanketing” the cities of Raleigh, Charlotte and Greensboro in the Tar Heel State with the messaging ahead of Trump’s rally in Wilmington on Saturday.
Robinson will not be in attendance at the Trump rally, a source told The Hill on Friday. Trump has endorsed Robinson, who has vowed to stay in the race despite widespread criticism over his past remarks.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Harris campaign ad.