CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Just days after earning the Republican nomination for North Carolina governor, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is facing backlash after comments he made in 2020 resurfaced on YouTube.
The comment happened at an event hosted by the Republican Women of Pitt County. Robinson, who was running for lieutenant governor at the time, was caught on camera saying he would "absolutely want to go back to the America where women couldn't vote."
But what's the full story behind the video?
OUR SOURCES
We went straight to the source for this one and watched the YouTube video for ourselves.
WHAT WE FOUND
A little snippet of the video, which has now gone viral, needs a lot of context.
In the 2020 video, Robinson referred to a previous question posed to conservative political commentator Candace Owens, who was asked, "Which America would you want to go back to? One where women couldn't vote or one where Black people were swinging from trees?"
Robinson then asked himself the same question, and he said he would pick the situation in which women couldn’t vote. He explained by saying America was better then because Republicans "fought for real social change."
WCNC Charlotte has reached out to Robinson’s campaign to ask about this video. So far, the campaign hasn't responded to those requests.
So while Robinson did say he wanted to go back to an America “where women couldn’t vote," that quote itself is taken out of context in the stories circulating around social media.
Robinson was using it to make a point about the Republican Party supporting women’s suffrage. Here is the rest of what he said:
"Because in those days we had people who fought for real social change, and they were called Republicans, and they are the reason why woman can vote today."
So while Robinson holds views that have been criticized as being insensitive and intolerant, in this case, the claim he supports going back to a time when women couldn’t vote isn’t exactly what he said.
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