New Kamala Harris Ad Emphasizes Ties Between Donald Trump, Mark Robinson

Democrat Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is wasting no time capitalizing on a bombshell CNN story about racist and lewd comments that North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R), the state’s GOP gubernatorial nominee, apparently made on a porn forum between 2008 and 2012.

A new Harris ad, released just a day after the report, features Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump fawning over Robinson at events.

“I think you’re better than Martin Luther King,” Trump tells Robinson in one clip, unaware that in online posts, Robinson had allegedly called the civil rights icon “worse than a maggot,” wished “they would bring it (slavery) back” and referred to himself as a “black NAZI.”

In another clip, Trump, who endorsed Robinson earlier this year, says he’s “been with him a lot. I’ve gotten to know him, and he’s outstanding.”

CNN reported that in other posts, Robinson — known for his recent anti-transgender rhetoric — explained his appreciation for trans pornography, and wistfully recalled the times he spent as a teenager secretly “peeping” on women in public gym showers.

“Donald Trump and Mark Robinson ― they’re both wrong for North Carolina,” a voice-over in the Harris ad concludes.

In response to the CNN story, the Trump campaign rejected reports that it’s pressured Robinson to withdraw from his race.

“That’s absolutely inaccurate,” Brian Hughes, a senior Trump campaign adviser, told NBC News. “Fake news. Didn’t happen. Trump and the Trump campaign have had no pushing or anything else. Inaccurate.”

North Carolina Democrats, meanwhile, predict that the explosive story could affect other races down the ballot ― and up.

“Normally, someone running for governor, even if they turned out to underperform, wouldn’t be someone who would impact the rest of the ticket,” Rep. Jeff Jackson (D-N.C.) told “CNN This Morning.”

“But this isn’t normal.”

Given the narrow margins in most of the statewide races there, said Jackson, even a small impact on the vote could “swing a whole bunch of elections, including the presidential election.”