Exclusive: Harris campaign ties Trump to Robinson in new ad on contraception
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Former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Johnny Mercer Theatre on Sept. 24 in Savannah, Ga. Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Vice President Harris' campaign is launching a digital ad on Thursday trying to tie former President Trump to embattled North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) over their past statements on contraception.
Why it matters: It's the Harris campaign's second paid ad that links Trump to the down-ballot candidate after an explosive CNN report unveiled that Robinson called himself a "Black Nazi" and made other incendiary comments on a porn message board.
- The ad is the latest effort by the Harris campaign to connect Trump to the most extreme members of his party on the politically salient issue of reproductive rights.
- Trump endorsed Robinson for North Carolina governor and said that he is "Martin Luther King on steroids," but his campaign has since sought distance from the embattled candidate, Axios' Sophia Cai reports.
- But Trump has not pulled his official endorsement, as some other Republicans have walked back their support.
Zoom in: The ad, being released on World Contraception Day, features Trump and Robinson side by side below a heading that says, "Trump and Mark Robinson are coming for birth control."
- The ad features a clip of Trump saying he's "looking at" restrictions on contraceptions, a position that he backtracked on earlier this year.
- Trump has said he won't ban birth control if he's elected, but the Harris campaign points to his past comments and the Project 2025 conservative vision that they say would make accessing contraceptives more difficult if he's elected.
State of play: Trump said during the September presidential debate that "Obamacare was lousy health care" and that he had "concepts of a plan" to replace it with "something better and less expensive" if he wins.
- This could imperil the guarantee under the Affordable Care Act that privately insured people can get birth control without paying anything out of pocket.
- The ad, which will run in the battlegrounds, also features a recently surfaced video of Robinson from 2022 saying that young women need to "get this under control," while gesturing toward his groin area, signaling his opposition to contraceptives.
Between the lines: When Trump rallied in North Carolina last weekend, Robinson did not appear with the GOP presidential candidate as he has done in the past, and he was absent from the former president's speech.
- But the Harris campaign is seeking to remind voters of their past ties as they seek to win the key battleground.
What they're saying: "Republicans across the country are abandoning Mark Robinson faster than he can spew his next vile comment — but not Donald Trump, who continues to stand by his favorite extremist," Harris-Walz spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement.
- "[Trump and Robinson] are committed to the same backwards Project 2025 agenda that would ban abortion nationwide and threaten women's access to birth control."
