LIVE UPDATES: Mark Robinson Scandal Puts Swing State North Carolina in Spotlight

Ohio’s Republican governor condemns Trump and Vance in NYT op-ed

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has condemned the comments made by the Trump campaign about his state, describing them as “disappointing.”

The Republican said that the campaign had turned Ohio, and the city of Springfield in particular, into an “epicenter of vitriol” after Trump characterized the city as an area suffering from mass immigration in his ABC debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Writing in The New York Times on Friday, DeWine said: “Springfield has a rich history of providing refuge for the oppressed and being a place of opportunity. As a stop on the Underground Railroad, the Gammon House, which still stands, was a safe haven for escaped slaves seeking freedom.

“It is disappointing to me that Springfield has become the epicenter of vitriol over America’s immigration policy, because it has long been a community of great diversity.”

“As a supporter of former President Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance, I am saddened by how they and others continue to repeat claims that lack evidence and disparage the legal migrants living in Springfield. This rhetoric hurts the city and its people, and it hurts those who have spent their lives there.”

Trump and Vance have made false claims about Haitian migrants in the city eating the community’s pets.

The governor also condemned the Biden administration’s approach to immigration policy, saying its “failure to control the southern border is a very important issue that Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance are talking about and one that the American people are rightfully deeply concerned about. But their verbal attacks against these Haitians — who are legally present in the United States — dilute and cloud what should be a winning argument about the border.”

–Theo Burman

Mark Robinson Is ‘Gut Punch’ for Republicans, Ex-GOP Lawmaker Warns

A scandal erupting around Trump-backed Republican North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson is a “gut punch” for Republicans in the Tar Heel State, according to former GOP Congressman Adam Kinzinger.

“This is devastating from a campaign perspective,” Kinzinger said. “Obviously, he’ll lose North Carolina. But the Trump campaign ought to be very concerned because if there are people disheartened by him, they’ll either not show up or maybe they’ll vote for Kamala.”

“This is not good for them for a very close state,” he continued. “It could bring down some of the enthusiasm. I mean, this is like a gut punch to anybody who’s a Republican in North Carolina to learn this. In a race that’s gonna be so close, any kind of an attack on motivation can make a huge difference.”

Read more from Aila Slisco

Josh Stein’s Chances of Beating Mark Robinson, According to Polls

As North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson faces calls to suspend his gubernatorial bid, polling shows that his Democratic opponent, Attorney General Josh Stein, is leading the race as November inches closer.

Robinson is under pressure after CNN dropped a report Thursday tying the conservative to comments made on an adult website several years ago. Among the posts Robinson is accused of making on the site, “Nude Africa,” includes one where he called himself “a black NAZI.” In another post, made during the Obama administration, Robinson allegedly wrote, “I’d take Hitler over any of the sh** that’s in Washington right now!”

Robinson is the first black lieutenant governor of North Carolina and is running with former President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

Stein has held the lead for weeks in the race against Robinson, including in a poll released Thursday by Emerson College and The Hill, which found that 48 percent of likely voters support the Democrat.

Read more from Kaitlin Lewis

Kamala Harris’ Oprah Interview Mocked by MAGA: ‘Word Salad’

Anumber of MAGA figures have mocked Vice President Kamala Harris for the responses she gave during her interview with Oprah Winfrey in Michigan.

On Thursday, the Democratic presidential candidate sat down with the talk-show veteran at a Unite for America event, which featured a host of celebrities—with the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Meryl Streep and Chris Rock, who have endorsed Harris in the race, watching remotely.

During the 90-minute livestreamed interview, where Harris also took questions from the audience, the vice president discussed a number of key 2024 topics, such as abortion rights, immigration and gun violence.

A number of Donald Trump‘s supporters have mocked Harris for her at times lengthy responses during the event in the key swing state, with some suggesting that the vice president’s answers were a “word salad.”

Read more from Ewan Palmer

Obama: Kamala Harris ‘has spent her life fighting for people who need a voice and a champion’