WILMINGTON, N.C. — Former President Donald Trump returned Saturday to North Carolina, a likely must-win state for him, during a tumultuous time for Republicans in the state.

Trump took the stage in Wilmington around 2:30 p.m., two days after a nationally reverberating scandal jolted the North Carolina governor’s race, with CNN reporting Thursday that Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the GOP gubernatorial nominee, allegedly made graphic, offensive and racist comments on a pornography website about a decade ago.

Robinson, who has stoked controversy throughout his time as lieutenant governor, denied making the comments and called the allegations “salacious tabloid lies,” pledging on Thursday to stay in the race amid rumors that he was facing pressure from some Republicans to drop out.

Trump’s hour-long speech Saturday focused on border security and included a promise to punish jurisdictions that don’t cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Trump promised to “immediately surge federal law enforcement to every city that is failing ... to turn over criminal aliens.”

“We will get them out of North Carolina, and we will send them home where they belong,” Trump said.

North Carolina’s Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday vetoed a bill that would require sheriffs to cooperate with ICE, though the Republican-controlled General Assembly has the votes to overturn the veto.

“She’s done one debate. I’ve done two. It’s too late to do another. I’d love to, in many ways, but it’s too late. The voting is cast. The voters are out there,” Trump said.

In North Carolina, absentee ballots have begun being mailed out. Early voting begins Oct. 17 and Election Day is Nov. 5.

In a direct appeal to those in the audience from southeastern North Carolina, Trump promised full federal recognition for the Lumbee Tribe, which has for decades been denied benefits granted to other Native American tribes.

“If I am elected in November, I will sign legislation granting the great Lumbee Tribe the federal recognition that it deserves,” he said.

A bill introduced in early 2023 by Republican Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd stalled in committee and never got a vote.

Trump also said he would “end transgender insanity in our school” and “keep men out of women’s sports.” He then repeated a false claim that the woman who won a gold medal in boxing at the Paris Olympics was transgender. She is not.

“How demeaning is this to women? How demeaning is this to our country? How crazy is it?” Trump said.

The CNN report on Robinson included screenshots of Robinson allegedly calling himself a “Black Nazi” on the porn site’s message board and saying “slavery is not bad.” He also allegedly described spying on women in gym showers as a 14-year-old, and used a racial slur against the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

CNN said in its report that Robinson had listed his full name on his profile on the porn site, and an email address that he had used on other websites. On Friday, CNN reported that the posts had been removed from the website.

Trump has embraced Robinson’s candidacy and endorsed him, praising his oratorical ability during a rally in Greensboro in March, where he said Robinson, who is North Carolina’s first Black lieutenant governor, was “Martin Luther King on steroids.”

The North Carolina Republican Party said in a statement Thursday night that Robinson had “categorically denied the allegations made by CNN but that won’t stop the Left from trying to demonize him via personal attacks.”

But the next day, state GOP Chairman Jason Simmons said “the allegations are deeply troubling” and that Robinson “needs to explain them to the people of North Carolina.”

Other high-profile North Carolina Republicans have also said Robinson needs to do more to prove to voters he was not behind the posts.”

U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he hoped Robinson could “reassure North Carolinians that each of these specific allegations are not true,” while Budd called the comments reported by CNN “disgusting” and said, while Robinson said they weren’t made by him, “he needs to prove that to the voters.”

Meanwhile, Tillis said Friday evening that if the report is false, Robinson needs to “take immediate legal action,” but added that if it is true, “he owes it to President Trump and every Republican to take accountability for his actions and put the future of NC & our party before himself.”

Robinson did not speak at or attend Trump’s rally in Wilmington.

Democrats are nonetheless seeking to tie Robinson to Trump and hope his struggling polling numbers will make it even more difficult for Trump to win a state he has won twice before — but only by 1.3% in 2020.

From the stage, Trump did recognize a handful of N.C. politicians up for election in 2024, including attorney general candidate Dan Bishop and U.S. Rep. David Rouzer.

Budd was also in the audience. So was Wilmington native and RNC co-chair Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, and her husband Eric.

In recognizing Eric Trump, the former president said: “He got more subpoenas than the late great Al Capone. Al Capone is like a baby compared to Eric.”

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