Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson visits Israel on ‘political trip’ in effort to make up for his history of antisemitism, Holocaust denialism

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson went to Israel this week as part of a public relations stunt he said would show Israel that America “stand[s] arm in arm with [them].”

But before he hopped on a flight, he gave a sermon at a Baptist church in Winston-Salem where he couldn’t resist making the horrific events happening in the Middle East about himself.

He told the congregation that he “thought about all the times other people stepped outside of their comfort zone … and realized that … a great responsibility has been put on my shoulders,” and that he felt like he needed to go to Israel.

“It’s more of a political trip than it is just going for tourism,” he said. “The main point of going is to show unity with the people of Israel.”

Robinson is a divider and not a uniter, so the fact that he highlighted “unity” as his reason for going to Israel is surprising.

It was just last month that he gave a showboating speech about Israel at the NCGA. Following that speech, he ignored and minimized his long history of antisemitic comments and beliefs when he was confronted about them by the media.

When asked to apologize for his past antisemitic comments, he said he apologized “for the wording” and “not necessarily for the content.” After his press event, Jewish Insider reported that he had gone even further than previously covered, including quoting Hitler on his personal Facebook page.

For those who know his history, it’s clear that Mark Robinson has no interest in promoting peace or unity here or abroad. When people in Durham earlier this month advocated peacefully for a ceasefire in Gaza, he responded by making fun of them and calling them “human speed bumps” while speaking at the Winston-Salem church.

Instead of traveling to Israel in a pathetic attempt to paper over his pattern of “racist and antisemitic diatribes,” Robinson should try to focus on the affairs of North Carolina and apologize for his long history of hateful, divisive comments that have no place in our state, country, or world.

Robinson’s Republican gubernatorial primary opponent State Treasurer Dale Folwell may have said it best when he said that Israel doesn’t need “72 hours of theater from a lawless elected official who poses as their friend.”