Hitler-quoting candidate wins North Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary

Mark Robinson, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor who has a history of making inflammatory comments and has said he would abolish abortion rights, has won the state’s Republican nomination for governor.

Robinson, North Carolina’s first Black lieutenant governor, will face Democrat Josh Stein, the state attorney general, in what’s expected to be a close and hotly contested race in November. Robinson and Stein are attempting to succeed the current Democratic governor Roy Cooper, who is term limited.

Because Republicans already control North Carolina’s legislature, a Robinson victory would give them a trifecta and unilateral control over policymaking in a critical battleground state.

Issues like the right to abortion would be at stake. Robinson said last month that he would “absolutely” protect life from conception. “We got it down to 12 weeks,” he said. “The next goal is to get it down to six, and then just keep moving from there.”

A former factory worker, Robinson launched his political career when his 2018 speech on gun laws to his hometown council went viral. During that speech, Robinson said he represented average Americans who feel targeted and whose safety feels threatened by attempts to restrict firearm access.

The attention following the speech earned him a spot as a conservative commentator and National Rifle Association board member, and he used his new fame to launch his successful bid for lieutenant governor.

Robinson has a history of controversial statements. He has described Covid-19 as a “globalist” conspiracy to destroy Donald Trump. In 2021, he criticized efforts to teach LGBTQ+ issues in sex education, referring to transgender and homosexual people as “filth”. He has also said peopler who are gay are