前总统唐纳德·特朗普周六回到关键战场州北卡罗来纳州参加集会，但拒绝提及马克·罗宾逊他的政党提名的州长候选人。
集会在围绕这位共和党副州长的指控中进行，这位前总统此前曾支持他，并称他为“服用类固醇的马丁·路德·金”。
罗宾逊没有出现在集会上，他被指控十多年前在一个色情网站的留言板上发表煽动性言论，根据一份报告CNN周四发布。
四面楚歌的州长候选人出乎意料参加周六的集会。特朗普没有给出任何迹象表明他打算取消对罗宾逊的支持。
在周日的一份声明中，罗宾逊的竞选团队表示，四名主要工作人员已经从竞选团队中“辞职”:总顾问兼高级顾问康拉德·波戈泽尔斯基三世;竞选经理克里斯·罗德里格斯;财务总监希瑟·威利尔;和副竞选经理杰森·里兹克。
“我感谢这些做出艰难选择退出竞选的团队成员所做的努力，我祝愿他们在未来的努力中一切顺利。我期待着在未来几天宣布新的员工角色，”罗宾逊在一份声明中说。
特朗普在这个选举周期中多次为罗宾逊竞选，包括邀请他今年在北卡罗来纳州的集会上发表讲话，以及去年在他的Mar-a-Lago庄园招待他参加筹款活动。
接近前总统的人告诉ABC新闻，他们周四准备好了罗宾逊的故事。消息人士称，竞选团队计划加大特朗普和罗宾逊之间的距离，但最初并没有计划迫使他退出。
然而，罗宾逊四面楚歌的竞选活动确实出现在宾夕法尼亚州艾伦镇的一次集会上，由副总统候选人州长蒂姆·瓦尔兹(Tim Walz)担任主角。
瓦尔兹暗示特朗普与罗宾逊没有“不同”。
“我们有共和党人竞选州长，他们自豪地称自己是纳粹。让我们不要假装在这里跑步的人之间有逐渐的差异——他们在一起跑步，”Walz说。
Trump doesn't mention embattled GOP candidate Mark Robinson at North Carolina rally
Former President Donald Trump returned to the key battleground state of North Carolina for a rally Saturday, but declined to mentionMark Robinson-- his party's nominee for governor in the state.
The rally went on amid the allegations surrounding the Republican lieutenant governor, who the former president had previously supported and called "Martin Luther King on steroids."
Robinson, who did not appear at the rally, was accused of posting inflammatory comments on the message board of a pornography website more than a decade ago,according to a reportpublished Thursday from CNN.
The embattled gubernatorial candidate hadnot been expectedto attend Saturday's rally. Trump has not given any indication that he intends to pull his endorsement of Robinson.
In a statement Sunday, Robinson's campaign said four key staffers had "stepped down" from the campaign: general consultant and senior advisor Conrad Pogorzelski, III; campaign manager Chris Rodriguez; finance director Heather Whillier; and deputy campaign manager Jason Rizk.
"I appreciate the efforts of these team members who have made the difficult choice to step away from the campaign, and I wish them well in their future endeavors. I look forward to announcing new staff roles in the coming days," Robinson said in a statement.
Trump has campaigned for Robinson multiple times during this election cycle, including inviting him to speak at his rallies in North Carolina this year and hosting him at his Mar-a-Lago estate for a fundraiser last year.
People close to the former president told ABC News that they were bracing for the Robinson story on Thursday. The campaign was planning to put more distance between Trump and Robinson, but initially did not have plans to push him to drop out, sources said.
Robinson's beleaguered campaign, however, did come up at a rally headlined by vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Walz insinuated that Trump was no "different" from Robinson.
"We got folks running as Republicans for governor that are proud to refer to themselves as Nazis. Let's not pretend that there's a gradual difference between the folks that are running here– that they're running together," Walz said.
