North Carolina is one of probably six swing states that will determine who will be the next President of the United States. The Tar Heel state, unlike its deep red neighbor South Carolina, shows more of a purple hue, with two Republican Senators but also where a Democrat has won seven of the last eight Governor elections.
As the GOP moves nationally toward a more extreme MAGA version, leaving moderate Republicans adrift, the fate of purple states like North Carolina — and their impact on the general election — becomes an unknown and critical political question. (Also in question is how complete the MAGA takeover of the party really is, with Trump antagonist Nikki Haley winning enough primary votes to seed some doubt about claims of MAGA absolutism.)
In swing states the critical questions are: Does the GOP’s rejection of non-MAGA Republicans mean those Republicans move to the right to join the burgeoning far-right movement? Or — abandoned — do they grit their teeth and support Democrats who don’t hold what they consider divisive hard-wired positions?
These questions will get a clearer than usual test in North Carolina this November, as the GOP primary has bestowed its gubernatorial nomination on Mark Robinson, the man Donald Trump has controversially called “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
It’ll be a clear test because Robinson, by his own proud admission, is not merely anti-woke but anti-tolerant. Below see a clip of Robinson calling homosexuality “filth” — and making sure he was heard correctly.
There may be, as strange as it sounds, a legitimate if small “Gays for Trump” group. But “Gays for Robinson” isn’t a thing and if it were, Robinson would likely disavow it.
Here is Republican nominee for Gov of NC Mark Robinson saying that gay people are “filth.” pic.twitter.com/LV6v3royKZ
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) March 6, 2024
The North Carolina GOP’s selection of Robinson, who will battle Democrat Josh Stein to succeed the term-limited Democrat Roy Cooper in November, will bring the extreme views of the GOP into bold relief — as Robinson has campaigned to govern a red North Carolina, not a purple one.
The choice of Robinson offers President Joe Biden and Democrats an opportunity to define themselves in opposition to his intolerance. With his culture war intransigence, Robinson will either be a homophobic gift to Democrats or empirical proof that the GOP has transitioned decisively from conservatism toward Christian theocracy.
