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Meet Mark Robinson, the Republican frontrunner in the North Carolina governor’s race accused of antisemitism
(JTA) — The Facebook post in early August condemning antisemitic flyers left around Raleigh might not have been surprising, coming from North Carolina’s lieutenant governor.
But for Lieutenant Gov. Mark Robinson, the statement marked something of a change in tone. After the Republican was elected to the state’s second-highest office in 2020, revelations emerged that he was the prolific author of Facebook posts downplaying the threat of Nazism, invoking antisemitic stereotypes and targeting other minority groups.
At the time, Robinson’s track record earned him criticism from local Jewish leaders and national commentators; the Republican Jewish Coalition called his comments “clearly antisemitic.” In response, Robinson did not publicly apologize for the posts but he said he would no longer make them. He met with a group of local Jewish leaders in 2021 and says he privately apologized to them.
Now, as Robinson runs for governor — and increasingly appears on track to become the Republican nominee next year — North Carolinians must decide whether Robinson has earned their trust. For some local Jews, that means taking him more seriously.
“Most of us find it hard to believe that he will be the candidate,” said Randall Kaplan, a board member of the Jewish Democratic Council of America who is also married to Rep. Kathy Manning, a Jewish Democrat who represents North Carolina in Congress. “I think most of us are in denial.”
Here’s what you need to know about Robinson, his contentious social media presence and his campaign to lead North Carolina.
He’s a political newcomer whose star is rising.
Robinson has risen rapidly in state politics in recent years after a life spent out of the spotlight. A native of Greensboro, his campaign website says he was the ninth of 10 children and that his alcoholic father abused his mother. He studied at the University of North Carolina Greensboro with hopes of becoming a history professor, has worked in furniture factories and also opened a daycare center with his wife. He filed for bankruptcy in 1998, 1999 and 2003.
Robinson’s improbable rise in the GOP began in early April 2018, when he spoke before the Greensboro City Council about preserving gun owners’ rights following the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, two months earlier in which 17 students and teachers were killed.
“I’m a law-abiding citizen who’s never shot anybody,” he said in the four-minute speech. “Every time we have one of these shootings, nobody wants to put the blame where it goes, which is at the shooter’s feet. You want to put it at my feet.”
The appearance went viral. Robinson went on in 2020 to win the lieutenant governor’s job with 51.6% of the vote against his Democratic opponent. He is also a National Rifle Association board member and speaker at events calling for gun rights, including the NRA’s annual meeting this past April.
Now, Robinson is the Republican frontrunner in the high-profile contest for governor. At a June rally in Greensboro, former President Donald Trump pledged to endorse Robinson, calling him “one of the great stars of the party.”
Other candidates on the Republican side include State Treasurer Dale Folwell, former Rep. Mark Walker, former State Senator Andy Wells and former healthcare executive Jesse Thomas.
Whoever wins the March 2024 primary will likely face the state’s Jewish attorney general, Josh Stein, who is so far running unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Robinson would be North Carolina’s first Black governor, Stein its first Jewish one. Polls show them running a close race, though the election is more than a year away. Stein is winning the campaign funds battle to date: His campaign raised about $6 million this year through June, while Robinson’s campaign raised $2.2 million during the same period.
Stein has also seized upon some of Robinson’s comments. Robinson’s “brand of extremism is off the charts,” Stein told Charlotte radio station WFAE.
Robinson has a history of inflammatory comments referencing Jews and other groups.
Before his first political campaign in 2020, Robinson was an active and controversial Facebook user whose posts downplayed the need to discuss the Nazis’ evil.
“I am so sick of seeing and hearing people STILL talk about Nazis and Hitler and how evil and manipulative they were. NEWS FLASH PEOPLE, THE NAZIS (National Socialist) ARE GONE! We did away with them,” he declared in a 2017 post first uncovered by Jewish Insider, which has tracked Robinson’s comments since he took office.
“Marxist Socialist(s)” and communism pose the bigger threat and control the media, he maintained. “After all, who do you think has been pushing this Nazi boogeyman narrative all these years?”
Later that year, in another post, Robinson wrote, “Please STOP wasting my time, your time, and the time of your fellow conservatives talking about, and making mention of, the NAZIS who have been DEAD since 1945.”
He has also targeted other groups, including LGBTQ people, Muslims and others. “Note to liberals; I’ll accept ‘Gay Pride’ when you accept ‘White Pride,’” he wrote in 2014, according to screenshots posted by the liberal news site Talking Points Memo. Another post read, “I believe that homosexuality is a sin and that those people who are ‘proudly coming out of the closet’ are standing in open rebellion against God.”
In 2018, he railed on Facebook that the hit superhero movie “Black Panther” was “created by an agnostic Jew and put to film by satanic marxist.” Invoking an antisemitic trope about Jewish pursuit of money and using a Yiddish slur for Black people, Robinson, who is Black, wrote that the film was “only created to pull the shekels out of your Schvartze pockets.” The following year, the News and Observer in Raleigh reported that he responded affirmatively to a far-right religious leader who invoked an antisemitic conspiracy theory.
After national news organizations called attention to Robinson’s posts after his election, he said they would not continue.
“When I made those posts as a private citizen, I was speaking directly to issues that I’m passionate about,” he said upon taking office. “As a public servant, I have to put those opinions behind me and do what’s right for everyone in North Carolina.”
The CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, Matt Brooks, said at the time he was not satisfied with Robinson’s response. “His refusal to apologize is troubling and unacceptable to us,” Brooks said.
As lieutenant governor, Robinson has tried to play it straighter.
While Robinson has not issued a public apology, he met with Jewish leaders from Greensboro shortly after taking office to discuss their concerns about his posts. Marilyn Chandler, CEO of the Greensboro Jewish Federation, helped to organize and participated in the virtual meeting, which included Jewish participants as well as Robinson and members of his staff.
During the meeting, Chandler and other Jewish leaders expressed their deep concerns about antisemitic remarks Robinson had made on social media prior to becoming lieutenant governor. He shared a press statement addressing these issues, though it is unclear if the statement has been released publicly.
Mike Lonergan, communications director for Robinson’s campaign for governor, told JTA that Robinson “met with dozens of rabbis and Jewish leaders from across NC” after taking office, and that he “expressed remorse, and communicated a desire to learn more about the Jewish community in an effort to understand how he can better serve them as an elected official.”
After speaking with several rabbis across the state, JTA was unable to independently confirm additional meetings Robinson had with Jewish leaders beyond the one in Greensboro.
Robinson also addressed his contentious Facebook posts and said he apologized for them in his memoir. The book, titled “We Are The Majority: The Life and Passions of a Patriot,” was published in September 2022.
“It came off the wrong way,” he wrote, according to a photo of the book’s text shared by Lonergan. “When people called me and asked about it, that’s what I told them. And I apologized to them. It’s the only time I’ve ever apologized for anything I put on Facebook. It did come out wrong. I knew the truth of what I was trying to say, but I should have chosen different words.”
His social media presence of late has taken on a different character. Recently, on his official page as lieutenant governor, Robinson has appeared to make a point of condemning antisemitism publicly — including the flyers in Raleigh. Adopting a pro-Israel outlook that is de rigueur among Republicans, he has also called out recent criticism of Israel by Democrats.
“Democrat Congresswoman Jayapal labeling Israel a ‘racist state’ is unjust and plain wrong,” he wrote on Facebook in response to comments made in July by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, an influential Democrat from Washington who later walked the statement back. “These harmful antisemitic comments are not representative of our nation’s values. We stand firmly with Israel, our steadfast ally.”
But Robinson has not entirely avoided hot-button issues or the controversy that can accompany them. His tenure as second-in-command has included a campaign against what he sees as left-wing political indoctrination in schools. In March 2021, he formed the Fairness and Accountability in the Classroom for Teachers and Students, or FACTS, task force, and in an August press conference, he said he was combating teachers who put “undue pressure on young minds to accept their way of thinking.”
Earlier this summer, he went viral after speaking at a conference held by Moms for Liberty, the conservative group that is fueling book bans in school districts across the United States.
“Whether you’re talking about Adolf Hitler, whether you’re talking about Chairman Mao, whether you’re talking about Stalin, whether you’re talking about Pol Pot, whether you’re talking about [Fidel] Castro in Cuba, or whether you’re talking about a dozen other despots all around the globe, it is time for us to get back and start reading some of those quotes. It’s time for us to start teaching our children some of those quotes,” he said. “It’s time for us to start teaching our children about the dirty, despicable, awful things that those communist and socialist despots did in our history.”
People who viewed a clip of the speech without the condemnatory final sentence blasted Robinson for endorsing the views of history’s worst dictators. Stein’s campaign said in a press release that Robinson “promotes reading of quotes from global dictators.” The full video of the speech, however, showed that Robinson was not endorsing the dictators’ views.
Jewish groups are voicing concern — though Robinson has Jewish supporters, too.
In July, the North Carolina Jewish Clergy Association, the Democratic Majority for Israel and six North Carolina Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to state Republican leaders asking them to strongly condemn Robinson’s remarks.
“His inflammatory statements invoke harmful stereotypes and conspiracy theories, downplay the Holocaust, and denigrate entire groups of human beings,” the letter said. “They are not just deeply troubling, but downright dangerous.”
To date, none of the people who received the letter have publicly responded to it. Manning, a signatory on the letter, said she remained concerned about Robinson.
“The fact that we have a gubernatorial candidate in the state of North Carolina who makes antisemitic comments, who veers on Holocaust denial, is very frightening,” Manning, co-chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, told JTA.
For Rabbi Barbara Thiede, assistant professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the danger of Robinson’s rise comes from his potential to inspire extremists to take action. She said she thought some of her fellow Jews may not be adequately concerned by the possibility that he could become governor.
“They may not appreciate the danger that Robinson and others like him pose to their safety,” Thiede said. “Speech is not unrelated to action, even if one person is doing the speaking and the next is taking up the weapon — whatever that may be.”
Not all North Carolina Jews oppose Robinson’s candidacy. Jeremy Stephenson, a Charlotte attorney who previously ran as a Republican for local school board and served for two years as general counsel of the Mecklenburg County Republican Party, said he plans to vote for Robinson in the primary.
Stephenson dismisses the “hyperventilation from the left” about the candidate and told JTA that he isn’t worried about “isolated Facebook posts which are then blasted in paid social media from the Dems.”
“The Jewish Republicans I know are strongly in favor of Robinson, particularly in contrast with Stein,” Stephenson said. “I think Josh Stein has far more antisemitic friends on the left who he has been unwilling to distance himself from, and will accept donations from, in running for governor.”
Stephenson said he believes Robinson’s embrace of religion in the public sphere would have benefits for Jews in the state. “I think that Robinson in many ways will embolden more people to be more comfortable expressing their religious beliefs,” he said. “And that includes Jews.”
While it’s clear that Robinson’s past comments will draw more attention in the coming months, as the primary season heats up, it’s unclear how much North Carolina Jews will hear that chatter in their synagogues.
At Temple of Israel in Wilmington, the oldest Jewish congregation in the state, Rabbi Emily Losben-Ostrov said she’s keenly aware of the diverse viewpoints in her congregation, which she characterizes as “purple.”
Losben-Ostrov serves on the steering committee of the Jewish Clergy Association, which authorized the letter about Robinson. At the same time, she said she talks about Jewish values but not about any single politician or political party from the bimah.
“I want the synagogue to be a place for unity and for escaping some of the difficulties of the things that divide us,” she said, adding, “It’s a dual job I need to do. One is to stand up to hate and two is to also keep our community connected.”
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Letter from Vancouver: A monument draws on Jewish tradition to remember victims of Oct. 7
The garden of Temple Sholom Synagogue in Vancouver is a serene and contemplative place to remember the horrific events of Oct. 7, 2023—and the Israeli civilians, soldiers and foreign nationals who […]
The post Letter from Vancouver: A monument draws on Jewish tradition to remember victims of Oct. 7 appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Deal ‘Tantamount to a Hezbollah Defeat,’ Says Leading War Studies Think Tank
Israeli tanks are being moved, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, in the Golan Heights, Sept. 22, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
The terms of the newly minted ceasefire agreement to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah amounts to a defeat for the Lebanese terrorist group, although the deal may be difficult to implement, according to two leading US think tanks.
The deal requires Israeli forces to gradually withdraw from southern Lebanon, where they have been operating since early October, over the next 60 days. Meanwhile, the Lebanese army will enter these areas and ensure that Hezbollah retreats north of the Litani River, located some 18 miles north of the border with Israel. The United States and France, who brokered the agreement, will oversee compliance with its terms.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), in conjunction with the American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project (CTP), explained the implications of the deal on Tuesday in their daily Iran Update, “which provides insights into Iranian and Iranian-sponsored activities that undermine regional stability and threaten US forces and interests.” Hezbollah, which wields significant political and military influence across Lebanon, is the chief proxy force of the Iranian regime.
In its analysis, ISW and CTP explained that the deal amounts to a Hezbollah defeat for two main reasons.
First, “Hezbollah has abandoned several previously-held ceasefire negotiation positions, reflecting the degree to which IDF [Israel Defense Forces] military operations have forced Hezbollah to abandon its war aims.”
Specifically, Hezbollah agreeing to a deal was previously contingent on a ceasefire in Gaza, but that changed after the past two months of Israeli military operations, during which the IDF has decimated much of Hezbollah’s leadership and weapons stockpiles through airstrikes while attempting to push the terrorist army away from its border with a ground offensive.
Additionally, the think tanks noted, “current Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem has also previously expressed opposition to any stipulations giving Israel freedom of action inside Lebanon,” but the deal reportedly allows Israel an ability to respond to Hezbollah if it violates the deal.
Second, the think tanks argued that the agreement was a defeat for Hezbollah because it allowed Israel to achieve its war aim of making it safe for its citizens to return to their homes in northern Israel.
“IDF operations in Lebanese border towns have eliminated the threat of an Oct. 7-style offensive attack by Hezbollah into northern Israel, and the Israeli air campaign has killed many commanders and destroyed much of Hezbollah’s munition stockpiles,” according to ISW and CTP.
Some 70,000 Israelis living in northern Israel have been forced to flee their homes over the past 14 months, amid unrelenting barrages of rockets, missiles, and drones fired by Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah began its attacks last Oct. 8, one day after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel. The Jewish state had been exchanging fire with Hezbollah but intensified its military response over the past two months.
Northern Israelis told The Algemeiner this week that they were concerned the new ceasefire deal could open the door to future Hezbollah attacks, but at the same time the ceasefire will allow many of them the first opportunity to return home in a year.
ISW and CTP also noted in their analysis that Israel’s military operations have devastated Hezbollah’s leadership and infrastructure. According to estimates, at least 1,730 Hezbollah terrorists and upwards of 4,000 have been killed over the past year of fighting.
While the deal suggested a defeat of sorts for Hezbollah and the effectiveness of Israel’s military operations, ISW and CTP also argued that several aspects of the ceasefire will be difficult to implement.
“The decision to rely on the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and UN observers in Lebanon to respectively secure southern Lebanon and monitor compliance with the ceasefire agreement makes no serious changes to the same system outlined by UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war,” they wrote.
Resolution 1701 called for the complete demilitarization of Hezbollah south of the Litani River and prohibited the presence of armed groups in Lebanon except for the official Lebanese army and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
This may be an issue because “neither the LAF nor the UN proved willing or able to prevent Hezbollah from reoccupying southern Lebanon and building new infrastructure. Some LAF sources, for example, have expressed a lack of will to enforce this ceasefire because they believe that any fighting with Hezbollah would risk triggering ‘civil war,’” the think tanks assessed.
Nevertheless, the LAF is going to deploy 5,000 troops to the country’s south in order to assume control of their own territory from Hezbollah.
However, the think tanks added, “LAF units have been in southern Lebanon since 2006, but have failed to prevent Hezbollah from using the area to attack Israel.”
The post Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Deal ‘Tantamount to a Hezbollah Defeat,’ Says Leading War Studies Think Tank first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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What Nutmeg and the Torah Teach Us About Securing a Long-Term Future
A Torah scroll. Photo: RabbiSacks.org.
Here’s a fact from history you may not know. In 1667, the Dutch and the British struck a trade deal that, in retrospect, seems so bizarre that it defies belief.
As part of the Treaty of Breda — a pact that ended the Second Anglo-Dutch War and aimed to solidify territorial claims between the two powers — the Dutch ceded control of Manhattan to the British.
Yes, that Manhattan — the self-proclaimed center of the universe (at least according to New Yorkers), home to Wall Street, Times Square, and those famously overpriced bagels.
And what did the Dutch get in return? Another island — tiny Run, part of the Banda Islands in Indonesia.
To put things in perspective, Run is minuscule compared to Manhattan — barely 3 square kilometers, or roughly half the size of Central Park. Today, it’s a forgotten dot on the map, with a population of less than 2,000 people and no significant industry beyond subsistence farming. But in the 17th century, Run was a prized gem worth its weight in gold — or rather, nutmeg gold.
Nutmeg was the Bitcoin of its day, an exotic spice that Europeans coveted so desperately they were willing to risk life and limb. Just by way of example, during the early spice wars, the Dutch massacred and enslaved the native Bandanese people to seize control of the lucrative nutmeg trade.
From our modern perspective, the deal seems ridiculous — Manhattan for a pinch of nutmeg? But in the context of the 17th century, it made perfect sense. Nutmeg was the crown jewel of global trade, and controlling its supply meant immense wealth and influence. For the Dutch, securing Run was a strategic move, giving them dominance in the spice trade, and, let’s be honest, plenty of bragging rights at fancy Dutch banquets.
But history has a funny way of reshaping perspectives. What seemed like a brilliant play in its time now looks like a colossal miscalculation — and the annals of history are filled with similar trades that, in hindsight, make us scratch our heads and wonder, what were they thinking?
Another contender for history’s Hall of Fame in ludicrous trades is the Louisiana Purchase. In 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte, who was strapped for cash and eager to fund his military campaigns, sold a vast swath of North America to the nascent United States for a mere $15 million. The sale included 828,000 square miles — that’s about four cents an acre — that would become 15 states, including the fertile Midwest and the resource-rich Rocky Mountains.
But to Napoleon, this was a strategic no-brainer. He even called the sale “a magnificent bargain,” boasting that it would “forever disarm” Britain by strengthening its rival across the Atlantic. At the time, the Louisiana Territory was seen as a vast, undeveloped expanse that was difficult to govern and defend. Napoleon viewed it as a logistical burden, especially with the looming threat of British naval power. By selling the territory, he aimed to bolster France’s finances and focus on European conflicts.
Napoleon wasn’t shy about mocking his enemies for their mistakes, once quipping, “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” But in this case, it’s tempting to imagine him swallowing those words as the United States grew into a global superpower thanks, in no small part, to his so-called bargain.
While he may have considered Louisiana to be a logistical headache — too far away and too vulnerable to British attacks — the long-term implications of the deal were staggering. What Napoleon dismissed as a far-off backwater turned out to be the world’s breadbasket, not to mention the backbone of America’s westward expansion.
Like the Dutch and their nutmeg gamble, Napoleon made a trade that no doubt seemed brilliant at the time — but, with hindsight, turned into a world-class blunder. It’s the kind of decision that reminds us just how hard it is to see past the urgency of the moment and anticipate the full scope of consequences.
Which brings me to Esav. You’d think Esav, the firstborn son of Yitzchak and Rivka, would have his priorities straight. He was the guy — heir to a distinguished dynasty that stretched back to his grandfather Abraham, who single-handedly changed the course of human history.
But one fateful day, as recalled at the beginning of Parshat Toldot, Esav stumbles home from a hunting trip, exhausted and ravenous. The aroma of Yaakov’s lentil stew hits him like a truck. “Pour me some of that red stuff!” he demands, as if he’s never seen food before.
Yaakov, never one to pass up an opportunity, doesn’t miss a beat.
“Sure, but only in exchange for your birthright,” he counters casually, as if such transactions are as common as trading baseball cards. And just like that, Esav trades his birthright for a bowl of soup. No lawyers, no witnesses, not even a handshake — just an impulsive decision fueled by hunger and a staggering lack of foresight.
The Torah captures the absurdity of the moment: Esav claims to be “on the verge of death” and dismisses the birthright as worthless. Any future value — material or spiritual — is meaningless to him in that moment. All that matters is satisfying his immediate needs.
So, was it really such a terrible deal? Psychologists have a term for Esav’s behavior: hyperbolic discounting — a fancy term for our tendency to prioritize immediate rewards over bigger, long-term benefits.
It’s the same mental quirk that makes splurging on a gadget feel better than saving for retirement, or binge-watching a series more appealing than preparing for an exam. For Esav, the stew wasn’t just a meal — it was the instant solution to his discomfort, a quick fix that blinded him to the larger, long-term value of his birthright.
It’s the classic trade-off between now and later: the craving for immediate gratification often comes at the expense of something far more significant. Esav’s impulsive decision wasn’t just about hunger — it was about losing sight of the future in the heat of the moment.
Truthfully, it’s easy to criticize Esav for his shortsightedness, but how often do we fall into the same trap? We skip meaningful opportunities because they feel inconvenient or uncomfortable in the moment, opting for the metaphorical lentil stew instead of holding out for the birthright.
But the Torah doesn’t include this story just to make Esav look bad. It’s there to highlight the contrast between Esav and Yaakov — the choices that define them and, by extension, us.
Esav represents the immediate, the expedient, the here-and-now. Yaakov, our spiritual forebear, is the embodiment of foresight and patience. He sees the long game and keeps his eye on what truly matters: Abraham and Yitzchak’s legacy and the Jewish people’s spiritual destiny.
The message of Toldot is clear: the choices we make in moments of weakness have the power to shape our future — and the future of all who come after us. Esav’s impulsiveness relegated him to a footnote in history, like the nutmeg island of Run or France’s control over a vast portion of North America.
Meanwhile, Yaakov’s ability to think beyond the moment secured him a legacy that continues to inspire and guide us to this day — a timeless reminder that true greatness is not built in a moment of indulgence, but in the patience to see beyond it.
The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills, California.
The post What Nutmeg and the Torah Teach Us About Securing a Long-Term Future first appeared on Algemeiner.com.