Mark Robinson says Josh Stein has 'blood on his hands' during High Point town hall
HIGH POINT — Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson urged voters to focus on policies over personality and branded his Democratic opponent a liar during a town hall appearance in High Point on Thursday.
Robinson, who is running as the Republican nominee for governor, made a stop at the High Point Family Worship Center before an enthusiastic and supportive crowd on the first day of early voting in North Carolina.
The gubernatorial candidate appeared alongside his wife Yolanda, Randolph County Sheriff Gregory Seabolt and Seabolt's wife Candace. Some Republican office seekers and officials were also in attendance, including Guilford County school board member Crissy Pratt, Guilford County Commissioner candidate Maritza Gomez and N.C. House candidate Joseph Perrota.
Before the questioning period began, the church's pastor, the Rev. Barton Adkins, excited the crowd with remarks emphasizing the need to vote according to conservative Christian values. He said many conservative Christians face backlash for their beliefs and that the church had itself received criticism for agreeing to host Robinson.
"We have now been labelled haters, racists, old-fashioned bigots," Adkins said. "Indeed, in just the last three days, the voicemail of this facility has been filled up with such names calling us that for hosting this tonight."
Robinson and the other speakers took questions, first from a campaign aide and later from members of the audience.
The lieutenant governor has become a polarizing figure because of statements he has made regarding gay people, women and school-shooting survivors, among other groups.
Robinson gave the crowd some tips on how to address people who were put off by Robinson's past statements.
"People will say, "Well, Mark Robinson says mean things,'" Robinson said. "You tell them this: What do you think a fentanyl dealer is talking about in his house? What do you think a human trafficker is talking about on his chat logs out there talking to his friends? What do you think he is saying to his victims? Now is not the time for nice and personalities, folks. Now is the time to put people in office that are going to get something done."
Robinson told the crowd he had run "a campaign of truth" in contrast to his Democratic opponent Josh Stein, who he accused of lying about Robinson's views and taking his statements out of context.
He also condemned Stein as a bad attorney general who bore responsibility for fentanyl overdose deaths in the state.
"He has to look (the parents) in their face and he has to accept the fact that those young people's blood is on his hands," Robinson said. "That's why he focuses so heavily on what is not true because when he has to look in the mirror he has to see the truth, and I am sure he does not like what he sees, and I know you don't either."
Stein's campaign released a response to Robinson's comments Friday, calling them "disgusting but unsurprising from someone who's done absolutely nothing to help the people of North Carolina."
"Josh has sat with families devastated by this crisis and got to work with them on solutions," the statement read. "As attorney general, he worked with law enforcement to break up drug trafficking rings, partnered with Republicans and Democrats in the legislature to crack down on fentanyl dealers, and successfully urged congress to fund fentanyl detection at the border."
The campaign also pointed to Stein's role in negotiating the multi-billion-dollar opioid settlement from drug companies.
'I need to be the person that God made me'
The forum also gave Robinson an opportunity to touch on his policy views.
A member of the audience asked Robinson about abortion, an issue for which he has received much scrutiny.
Robinson's past statements calling for strict anti-abortion policies have found their way into ads from the Stein campaign. Robinson himself ran an ad where he discussed his and his wife's regret over an abortion she had early in their relationship.
At Thursday's hearing, Robinson said that though he has advocated for a six-week cutoff for elective abortions, he was supportive of the state law limiting most abortions at 12 weeks because of the need to respect consensus as an elected official.
Robinson told the crowd that he also felt that compassionate persuasion was a better tool for achieving anti-abortion goals than stern condemnation.
"I've said some harsh things about abortion in the past but I came to the realization of this: as an elected official and as a Christian, I don't need to be the individual that stands on a stage and screams down at a young woman and tells her why she can't have an abortion," Robinson said. "I need to be the person that God made me, the loving person that God made me, and come off that stage, tell that young woman why she should choose life and embrace it."
Robinson also shared his views on education, advocating for eliminating bureaucracy in schools to reallocate funding to teacher pay while also speaking out in support of ensuring parents have the right to decide whether to send their children to public or private schools or whether to teach them at home.
Public safety was another key issue for Robinson, who said he felt that many politicians, particularly liberal ones, had not been supportive enough of police.
In cases of misconduct such as the murder of George Floyd, Robinson said the best solution would be to work with police to find ways to weed out bad actors in law enforcement agencies.
'I'll let the voters decide who they trust'
While Robinson did field some vague questions regarding attack ads during the town hall, he did not address the issue which has rocked his campaign in the last month: a CNN report that linked Robinson to racist and offensive statements made on a pornographic website message board more than a decade ago.
The report, which included Robinson's purported self-description as a "Black Nazi," led several staffers in both his campaign and government office to resign. Many other Republican office holders have also distanced themselves from Robinson in the wake of the report.
Earlier this week, Robinson filed a $50 million defamation suit against CNN over the report. He also named Louis Money, a Greensboro resident and former porn shop clerk who claimed Robinson was a regular in his store more than 20 years ago, in the lawsuit as well.
While speaking to media after the event, Robinson said he has been upfront about other controversial statements he has made in the past and called CNN "agents of disinformation" who were biased against him.
"I'll let the voters decide who they trust," Robinson said. "Do they trust a candidate who has been completely transparent with them about his history and about his political beliefs or do they believe a news agency that has a history of just outright dishonesty and bias?"
When asked about what evidence he will present against CNN and Money, Robinson said his attorney is handling the case.
"We did not want to stop our campaign and focus on CNN's lies and their untruths," Robinson said. "We want to let our lawyer focus on that. We want to continue to remain laser-focused on the issues that matter to people, and what matters to people are not lies that CNN is telling, not salacious tabloid trash."
Robinson also brushed aside a question about why he has not appeared alongside former President Donald Trump, who previously praised Robinson as "Martin Luther King on steroids," on Trump's visits to North Carolina since the CNN story was published.
"I don't need even speculate about other candidates. We have entirely too much to do in our own race. We are laser-focused on becoming the governor of this state," Robinson said.
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