ASHEVILLE – In a rally reported to be singularly focused on the economy, Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson —and gubernatorial candidate — stumped in Asheville on Aug. 14 alongside U.S. Sen. Ted Budd and Western North Carolina's 11th District Rep. Chuck Edwards as they briefly addressed the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium audience shortly before former President Donald Trump took the stage just after 4 p.m.
Robinson, after briefly discussing immigration and the economy, repeated a claim of being the target of the "weaponization of government" as his wife's nonprofit owes more than $130,000 to the state of North Carolina for violating compliance rules set by the Child and Adult Care Food Program. The nonprofit was reported to be "seriously" deficient in its operations by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
The gathering was the third time Trump had visited WNC — first in 2016, when he spoke at the Harrah's Cherokee Center, then called U.S. Cellular Center, shortly before winning the presidency, and again in 2020 at an event in Mills River. The 2016 event ended with arrests, two libel suits and resulted in the Asheville Police Department saying they would approach the 2024 rally differently.
Before Trump took the stage, the three Republican lawmakers gave short speeches each lasting less than five minutes.
Perhaps in the most striking speech, Robinson took the stage to raucous applause before claiming he was the victim of the "weaponization of government," and stood firm in support of Trump, even comparing the situation to that of the presidential candidate who was recently found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
“We’ve got to stop the weaponization of our government,” Robinson said Aug. 14. "My wife and I have felt the sting of it. My wife ran a successful business for almost 10 years. It wasn't until some folks inside that business that don't like me found out who I was and then this game begins. The harassment begins."
After the N.C. Department of Health and Human services recently notified Balanced Nutrition Inc. — a nonprofit owned by Robinson's wife, Yolanda Hill — that the company failed to comply with standards set by the Child and Adult Care Food Program and must pay $132,000 to the state, the Republican Lieutenant Governor claimed that the probe into the program was "politically motivated."
"It's bad at the state level, when it's me and you, and it's bad at the federal level when we see it done against someone like President Trump," Robinson said.
Trump was recently found guilty for falsifying 34 business records in order to cover up a 2016 election-interference conspiracy involving hush money to p*rn star Stormy Daniels, who is set to visit Asheville Aug. 16.
As the second-highest ranking elected official in the state, Robinson's previous speeches have seen the candidate recently visiting an eastern North Carolina church stating that "some folks need killin'." In 2021, Robinson remarked to a church crowd that "hom*osexuality and transgenderism" is "filth" — a statement his office would later walk back to explain that it was about LGBTQ+ topics being discussed in classrooms.
He's also been known for occasionally responding with anger to those across the aisle who've disagreed with his statements. In light of his 2021 comments, Buncombe County Democratic Sen. Julie Mayfield spoke on the N.C. Senate floor stating that "all people are human beings deserving of respect," in response to Robinson's earlier remarks. Afterward, an upset Robinson publicly confronted Mayfield and would later allege that she equated "the lynching of African-Americans, to the hardships of the LGBTQ+ community."
Edwards, Budd, hone in on Harris, immigration
Shortly before Robinson took the stage, Budd said that life was “better off” when Trump was in the White House, claiming that the Biden presidency has made the nation "unsafe and unaffordable" as “drugs are pouring in” and “terrorists are flooding our home” across the southern border.
A claim frequently made by Trump during his speech in Asheville the evening of Aug. 14 was regarding the term "migrant crime," often accompanied by his claiming that rising crime in the United States is due to illegal immigration.
This claim has largely been debunked by independent sources, with Alex Nowrasteh telling USA TODAY in March that "findings show pretty consistently undocumented and illegal immigrants have a lower conviction rate and are less likely to be convicted of homicide and other crimes overall compared to native-born Americans in Texas."
Edwards, of Hendersonville, was the first to take the stage. He took direct aim at a recent phrase, "We are not going back," used by Vice President Kamala Harris. Edwards instead stated: "We want to go back."
"I'm ready to go back to the Donald Trump presidency," Edwards said.
“I can’t think of a better way to fix how Washington works than to make Donald J. Trump our president again,” Edwards continued.
More: Western NC Congressman Edwards sanctioned by House commission for attacks on Biden
Trump 'not sure' if the economy is the most important
With 83 days remaining until the general election, Trump began his speech in Asheville by heavily focusing on the media coverage that Vice President Kamala Harris has received since becoming the candidate in late July, but eventually transitioned into a short back-and-forth between the economy and immigration, at one point calling the American dream "dead."
At one point, Trump made reference to his recent interview on X, formerly Twitter, with Elon Musk. He claimed it was "one of the most successful shows of all time." Initially, the interview between the two over the social media service had been plagued by technical malfunctions, but eventually led to a two-and-a-half hour discussion surrounding the economy and immigration.
"What he wants to do is see our country great again," Trump said of Musk.
More: As recreational marijuana comes to NC, a Cherokee 'seed to sale' operation springs to life
More: Political scientists weigh in on Mark Robinson's controversial remarks at NC church
Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com. Please help support this type of journalism with asubscriptionto the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: NC Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, Sen. Budd stump in Asheville for Trump
