2 speeches, 2 personas: Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson's State of the State response hints at new tactic

North Carolina's Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has become known for fiery rhetoric, but his response to the governor's State of the State address Monday was much more conciliatory. Some political observers are wondering which version of Robinson might show up on the campaign trail in 2024.

Posted 9:24 p.m. Mar 7, 2023 — Updated 6:41 a.m. Mar 8, 2023

Laura Leslie

, WRAL capitol bureau chief

RALEIGH, N.C. — Over his short political career, Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has become known for speeches full of fiery rhetoric — sometimes including homophobic and antisemitic remarks.

But his response to the governor's State of the State address Monday night took a much more conciliatory tone. That has some political observers wondering which version of Robinson might show up on the campaign trail in 2024, should he decide to run for governor, as he has hinted he might.

Robinson was a featured speaker Saturday at the high-profile Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, outside Washington, D.C. Catawba College political scientist Michael Bitzer said he was struck by the difference between that speech and Robinson’s State of the State response on Monday.

"He talked in the response about putting aside the weapons of political warfare," Bitzer told WRAL News. "But then at CPAC, he talked about actually somebody storming Omaha Beach, using that as kind of a rhetorical tool to say we need to go to war with our enemies."

Robinson wasn't available for an interview, according to spokesman John Waugh.

"While the tone of the two may have been different, they were both about public service," Waugh said in a statement. "The Lieutenant Governor made it clear that he is more interested in serving the people of North Carolina than playing political games."

Robinson has at times been critical of teachers in public education, but in his response to Cooper's address Monday night, he was complimentary toward them.

"Teachers have one of the most important jobs in our society," Robinson said. "We must hold them to professional standards, and we must pay them as the professionals they are."

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Two days prior at CPAC, the first-term lieutenant governor seemed less complimentary.

"We need to give thanks for those brave mothers and fathers who risk being called domestic terrorists by having the unmitigated gall to go down and speak up at the school board meeting for their children, because they refuse to have their children indoctrinated by [critical race theory] and have them presented with pornography," Robinson said Saturday to a cheering crowd.

Robinson also pleased the CPAC crowd with red-meat claims about the political left.

"They've got everybody from ABC, CNN, BLM and Antifa calling to have the police defunded," he said to thunderous applause. "Lying on the police, saying that our policemen are racist, saying that our policemen are violent."

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But in his response to Cooper's address, he seemed to reject the idea of stoking division. "In our society today, we are so divided, and thoughtful discussion is often replaced with tweets, sound bites and heated rhetoric," Robinson said in his speech Monday.

Bitzer said it’s not unusual for politicians to tailor their message to their audience, but he thinks the contrast in Robinson's two speeches went beyond that. He thinks Robinson is trying to change his image as he eyes a run for governor in 2024. Cooper won't run again due to term limits. Attorney Josh Stein has announced his campaign to seek the Democratic nomination.

"It's going to be interesting to see if [Robinson] can indeed hold these two personas — and which one dominates, especially for the party nomination battle, but more importantly, for the general election," Bitzer said.

However, he added, Robinson will probably have to address some of his past controversial comments and social media posts if, as expected, he launches a campaign for governor. He said if Robinson apologizes for comments that critics see as discriminatory, some voters may be willing to accept that.

"But I have to think from a Democrat's point of view, the nominee is on that side, they'll have a goldmine of video that they'll be able to use in opposition research to really paint Mark Robinson as extremely outside the bounds of moderate mainstream North Carolina politics," Bitzer said.

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