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North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson did not vote to pass an emergency relief declaration as Hurricane Helene barrelled towards the state, public records have shown.
Robinson, who has been rocked by public scandal in recent weeks, skipped out on a vote on September 25, shortly before the storm arrived, leaving communities devastated and at least 160 people dead across multiple states.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said on Tuesday that his office was working with the state’s information and referral service to determine the number of missing, but that “more fatalities” were expected.
Records from the governor’s office show that a concurrence request for an executive order was sent out on September 24. Approval was needed by Cooper from other elected officials to exercise certain authorities under the state Emergency Management Act.
Approval enables the governor to more easily mobilize rescue vehicles, order evacuations and begin other emergency actions by waiving some of the state’s transportation regulations for heavy vehicles.
The final record shows that the order was approved by all other state officials, including the Secretary of State, Treasurer and Attorney General, mostly within the hour. Robinson did not respond.
However, he has spent recent days calling on Cooper to do more, including deploying more resources and National Guard personnel to lead additional search-and-rescue teams. In a social media post on Tuesday, he added: “Stop waiting on federal resources and allow private industry in to assist with rescue and recovery efforts, and repair infrastructure immediately.”
After the news that he did not weigh in on the emergency order was revealed in the media on Wednesday, Robinson again took aim at Cooper and other Democrats, accusing them of not caring to prepare for the storm ahead of time.
“When Hurricane Helene was on its way to North Carolina, Gov. Cooper was too busy hob-knobing with rich folks in New York to care about preparing for the storm,” he wrote.
“Now Democrats like Cooper, Josh Stein & Joe Biden want to hide behind bureaucratic resolutions that pass automatically – instead of getting out there and working to help people in dire need. I won’t stand for this.
“While they are playing politics, my team and I remain committed to doing all we can to help our neighbors in the wake of this devastating storm.”
Robinson, who recently found himself at the center of a public scandal, is currently running against Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Stein to replace North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. Robinson’s campaign has hit a bit of a hiccup since the scandal.
Earlier this month, a CNN investigation accused Robinson of posting racist and sexual comments on a pornography website called Nude Africa. The investigation claimed it linked Robinson through an email address and screen name to find the comments.
The shocking comments showed the user calling themselves a “black NAZI” and asserting they would like to own slaves. Additionally, the commenter described vulgar and graphic comments about their sexual habits, according to CNN.
Robinson has denied making the comments and said he has hired a law firm to investigate the matter.
But still, Republicans have sought to distance themselves from Robinson in the wake of the report, with Donald Trump declining to mention Robinson’s campaign despite having boosted him repeatedly over recent years, at one point calling him “Martin Luther King on steroids.” A dozen of Robinson’s staff members, both on campaign or within his office, have resigned.
