Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is running to take back the Governor's Mansion for Republicans in North Carolina, spoke to ABC11 a day after speaking on stage at the Republican National Convention.
Robinson spoke with ABC11's Sydnee Scofield about a number of different topics. She will have a full report about their conversation later tonight.
He told Scofield that the atmosphere at the RNC is electric. He said seeing Donald Trump at the event making his first public appearance since an assassin's bullet grazed his ear was a magical moment for everybody.
Robinson said that the attempted assassination changed the tone of this year's RNC.
"It's kind of energized us and kind of given us all the kind of wake up call is we all realize that, you know, political discourse, there is no place for violence in political discourse," Robinson said.
Robinson emphasized that all elected leaders need to take a hard stance against any type of political violence.
"We can disagree vehemently on these issues, but at the end of the day, we need to all remember that we're all Americans and that we need to remain peaceful, you know, and do what we need to do politically to carry out this democratic process," he said. "Violence has no place in political discourse."
In light of that, Scofield asked him about recent comments Robinson made while speaking during a church service in North Carolina. In that speech, he discussed "evil" people who he said threatened American Christianity. "Some folks need killing," he said while in the pulpit.
Robinson said those words were taken out of context. He said he was talking about enemies of the United States over the years -- for example: Nazis in World War II.
"When we talk about those things, we talk about them in a historical context. We're certainly not extending that to political discourse. And again, that hard line always needs to be drawn. And as elected officials, we need to make sure we draw that hard line. And again, that's one of the good things about what -- one of the silver linings about what happened this past Saturday," Robinson said. "All of us elected officials Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, that doesn't matter--we need to hammer the point home to our folks: remain peaceful. Do this work on democracy peacefully and keep it in that vein."
Robinson has a long history of inflammatory and controversial comments -- including antisemitic and homophobic rants.
Robinson said the opportunity to speak on the first night of the Republican National Convention was a "huge honor," He said he knew he was representing 10 million people and wanted to do it well.
His speech was deeply personal look at his life and some of the challenges he's faced.
"It's just all about letting people know who we actually are. You know, outside of the political rhetoric, we want folks to know the humble beginnings that we came from," Robinson told ABC11. "The people of North Carolina are resilient, they're resourceful, and they come back - and that's been my story as well. So, we're hoping that our story gives folks hope."
He hopes his presence at this convention will help Americans better understand what's happening in North Carolina.
"We want folks to know that we are about the substantive issues in this race. We feel like the North Carolina legislature, the Republican-led legislature has given us some great groundwork to build on. They brought us out of economic doldrums prior to 2010 of being deeply in debt and furloughing state workers and teachers not getting a raise for six years to now having a $5 billion surplus," Robinson said.
He also mentioned the importance of the legislature focusing on public safety, infrastructure, housing, and put a special emphasis on education.
"We know those are the things are going to lead us into the future to make North Carolina the economic superpower of the campaign," Robinson said.
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