Trump Ignores Mark Robinson Controversy, Hoping Gubernatorial Candidate Will Drop Out

Donald J. Trump’s advisers knew they had a problem in North Carolina. What they were frantically trying to learn was how big it would be.

Word had reached the former president’s high command on Thursday that a “bad” story was coming about Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican running for governor in the must-win state of North Carolina.

Mr. Trump’s inner circle was not in possession of the full details before the story was published on CNN’s website, but they knew the bar for what would qualify as a “bad” story for Mr. Robinson was high. The candidate had already quoted a statement attributed to Adolf Hitler and mocked the teen survivors of the Parkland school shooting, and Mr. Trump’s advisers had recently started seeking distance from Mr. Robinson.

The Trump team had heard the CNN story had something to do with pornographic websites and the phrase “Black Nazi,” according to two people with direct knowledge of the internal discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

It didn’t help that at the same time they were waiting on the self-identifying Nazi story to come out, Mr. Trump was attending events in Washington, D.C., designed to promote his support for the state of Israel and the Jewish people. It also didn’t help that just months ago the former president had praised Mr. Robinson, who is Black, as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”