Former President Trump endorsed GOP candidate Mark Robinson for North Carolina governor on Saturday, dubbing him “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
Trump made the comment at a campaign rally in Greensboro, adding that Robinson, who already serves as lieutenant governor in North Carolina, didn’t know how to react to the remark.
“I think you’re better than Martin Luther King. I think you are Martin Luther King times two,” Trump told Robinson again.
“You should like it,” he added.
Robinson is the favorite to win the GOP nomination, thanks in part to endorsements from Trump and the NRA.
“What an honor to welcome President Donald Trump to my hometown of Greensboro today! I am humbled to have his endorsement,” Robinson said in a Saturday statement.
“The failed Biden-Stein agenda of the Democrat Party has brought our country to crisis,” he said, referencing the leading Democrat in the North Carolina gubernatorial race, Josh Stein. “We need more bold fighters like Donald Trump. I look forward to partnering with him to take on the failed Biden-Stein agenda, lead our united Republican ticket to victory in November, and get our state and country back on track.”
Robinson assumed office as North Carolina lieutenant governor in 2021, becoming the state’s first black American to hold the office. He announced last April he would run for governor.
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The Greensboro native burst onto the political scene in 2018 when he gave a fiery and viral speech on gun rights and the 2nd Amendment before the city council.
“I’m a law-abiding citizen who’s never shot anybody,” Robinson said at the meeting, which was viewed over 200 million times. “Every time we have one of these shootings, nobody wants to put the blame where it goes, which is at the shooter’s feet. You want to put it at my feet. You want to turn around and restrict my right.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
