Sept. 21 (UPI) — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is traveling to North Carolina for a rally Saturday amid fallout from that state’s GOP gubernatorial candidate calling himself a “Black Nazi” on a pornography website.
Meanwhile, Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is speaking Saturday at a campaign event in Allentown, Pa., while Republican counterpart JD Vance is also holding a campaign event in Pennsylvania Saturday, considered a key battleground state.
The Ohio senator’s campaign said the 40-year-old will speak at the Berks County Fairgrounds in Bern Township, Pa. Vance’s event is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. EDT.
The Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, is not scheduled to for any public appearances Saturday after making a campaign stop Friday night in Madison, Wis.
Harris spoke to a crowd of 10,000 for around 30 minutes in the battleground state’s capital, touching on abortion rights, home ownership, health care and opportunities for middle-class Americans.
Trump’s campaign rally Saturday kicks off at 2 p.m. EDT in Wilmington, N.C.
People began arriving at the venue as the doors opened at 10:30 a.m. while the U.S. Secret Service agents displayed photos of items that were prohibited inside the event.
The former president’s campaign is dealing with the fallout of comments made by North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson that were originally uncovered by CNN. Robinson is Republican nominee to replace term-limited Democratic incumbent Roy Cooper and has been enthusiastically endorsed by Trump.
According to CNN, Robinson called himself a “Black Nazi” and supported reinstating slavery in comments made on a pornographic website more than a decade ago.
He also reportedly said that he enjoyed watching transgender pornography. The 56-year-old is a self-described devoted Christian, opposed to abortion and has voiced hostility towards transgender people.
Robinson has opened several rallies and speaking engagements for Trump during the current campaign, which is now attempting to distance itself from him.
“President Trump’s campaign is focused on winning the White House and saving this country,” campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Raleigh, N.C.-based WRAL-TV in a statement.
“North Carolina is a vital part of that plan. We are confident that as voters compare the Trump record of a strong economy, low inflation, a secure border, and safe streets, with the failures of Biden-Harris, then President Trump will win the Tar Heel State once again. We will not take our eye off the ball.”
