North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, in a speech at the Faith and Freedom Coalition prayer breakfast on Thursday, criticized the media and, at times in tears, called on conservatives to commit themselves to a political movement fueled by love and faith.
“If we're doing this to hate our opponents, we're going to get nowhere,” Robinson told attendees of a conservative advocacy group event. “We're going to be useless to our friends.”
And the Republican candidate for governor urged Christians to refocus their church communities on the faith itself.
“For too long, Christians in this country have used their churches as country clubs, as meeting places, as places to congregate and conduct business,” Robinson said.
“The church is not a place where we come together to make money, make friends or spread our message. The church is a place where we come together to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
His comments, coming ahead of the final day of the Republican National Convention, struck a more personal chord than the brief speech he delivered in unanimous speech on Monday.
Pointing to his wife during his speech, he said she had “been through hard times” and that “when they came after me, they came after her.”
Robinson cites “Braveheart” and criticizes the media as “corrupt to the core.”
He highlighted his description of former President Donald Trump as “the Braveheart of America” and asked attendees to consider how they would respond to the question posed by William Wallace in the film: “What would you do with your freedom?”
“Will we continue to teach pornography to our kids in school?” Robinson asked. “Will we continue to ruin our economy by feeling beholden to our enemies abroad? Will we cower and run when lies are told?”
In her speech, Robinson defended her conservative views on abortion, sex and education, but also harshly criticised the media, calling them “corrupt to the core”.
“I always tell people: The media can be all mad at me. The left can be all mad at me. They can say whatever they want about me. They can frown all they want, boo all they want, heckle all they want, but if God smiles on me because of the words that come out of my mouth, then I'm very happy,” he said.
The lieutenant governor's inflammatory rhetoric has garnered national media attention and criticism from political opponents, including Democratic gubernatorial opponent Attorney General Josh Stein, who said Robinson's comments last month that “some people have to be killed” amounted to “an endorsement of violence.”
