When North Carolina held primary campaigns earlier this month, there wasn’t a lot of national interest in the Republican race to oversee the state’s public-school system. There was a surprise outcome in the GOP contest — conservative activist Michele Morrow upset incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt — but outside of the state, this didn’t generate headlines.
That changed when CNN ran this report.
The Republican nominee for superintendent overseeing North Carolina’s public schools and its $11 billion budget has a history marked by extreme and controversial comments, including sharing baseless conspiracy theories and frequent calls for the execution of prominent Democrats.
Yes, the Republican nominee to oversee public education in North Carolina, as recently as 2020, said on social media that she wanted to watch Barack Obama’s execution and also suggested killing Joe Biden.
CNN’s report, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, added that Morrow used social media between 2019 and 2021 to also make “disturbing suggestions about executing prominent Democrats for treason, including Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Hillary Clinton, Sen. Chuck Schumer and other prominent people such as Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates.”
Morrow also apparently doesn’t much care for public schools, having derided them as “socialism centers” and “indoctrination centers.” The activist, who claims several years of homeschooling experience, has also called for the abolishment of the state Board of Education.
And did I mention that Morrow has also promoted slogans and theories from the QAnon mass delusion? Because she apparently did that, too.
Because Morrow narrowly won her statewide primary, she’ll appear on the same ballot as Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who easily won his statewide primary and is the Republican Party’s gubernatorial nominee.
Robinson, of course, is an extraordinarily radical voice in GOP politics, known for, among other things, his overt antisemitism and his doubts about whether the Holocaust occurred. As we recently discussed, Robinson has also condemned the LGBTQ community as “filth,” and boasted about having an AR-15, which he said he was prepared to use against his own country’s government.
Talking Points Memo also published a lengthy report on the North Carolinian’s rhetorical record, noting his social media content that included “extreme attacks on the LGBT community, immigrants, Jews, and Black people.” A related HuffPost report noted, “Robinson is also a regular proponent of conspiracies claiming the music industry is being run by Satan and the Illuminati. … [He also] warned on Facebook that the reality-TV shows ‘American Idol,’ ‘Dancing With the Stars’ and ‘Chopped’ are a sign of an impending New World Order.”
A recent Washington Post report added, “There was the time [Robinson] called school shooting survivors ‘media prosti-tots’ for advocating for gun-control policies. The meme mocking a Harvey Weinstein accuser, and the other meme mocking actresses for wearing ‘whore dresses to protest sexual harassment.’ The prediction that rising acceptance of homosexuality would lead to pedophilia and ‘the END of civilization as we know it’; the talk of arresting transgender people for their bathroom choice; the use of antisemitic tropes; the Facebook posts calling Hillary Clinton a ‘heifer’ and Michelle Obama a man.”
Robinson is also running on a platform of banning all abortions without exceptions, election denialism, and climate denialism. The broader question that hangs overhead is simple: Will having Morrow and Robinson on the same ballot help encourage mainstream voters to turn out and support Democratic candidates? President Biden’s re-election team sees an opportunity. Axios reported last week that the incumbent’s political operation in North Carolina is growing, and Team Biden is including the state in its ad buys. While a Democratic ticket hasn’t won North Carolina since 2008, The New York Times reported that the party is more optimistic about its chances in the state, feeling better about North Carolina than Georgia, which Biden won four years ago. Watch this space.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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