Republicans absorb a political shockwave in must-win North Carolina

The opinions of conservative women like Walker are being closely watched this election, not just in North Carolina, but across the US. The Tar Heel State has one of the closest races in the country with November’s election looming.

Trump had previously offered a glowing endorsement of Robinson, calling him “Martin Luther King on steroids”.

Even before the CNN exposé was published, Robinson was under scrutiny.

He has faced backlash over 2019 comments in a Facebook video about abortion on demand, when he said women should be “responsible enough to keep your skirt down”.

In 2021, he said children in schools should not be learning about “transgenderism, homosexuality, any of that filth”, and later rejected calls to apologise.

“I think it’s fair to call the Robinson campaign a dumpster fire at this point,” said North Carolina State University political scientist Steven Greene.

There are fears among some Republicans that Robinson could be a political albatross, causing Republican voters to stay home, or driving Democratic turnout.

North Carolina has remained “stubbornly Republican”, said Greene. Barack Obama was the only Democrat to win the state in 44 years, and he only won it once, in 2008.

But the state’s growing urban centres have tilted the political scales towards Democrats, who hope this is the year they can turn North Carolina blue.

An Emerson College Polling/The Hill opinion poll released on Thursday, before the CNN report about Robinson was published, showed Harris leading Trump by one percentage point.

That is still well within the margin of error, which means the race is very much up in the air.

This state is essential for the Republican White House candidate, Greene said.

“It’s a lot harder to see Donald Trump getting to 270 without North Carolina than Kamala Harris,” he said, referring to the number of electoral college votes needed to clinch the US presidency.