A Republican strategist and North Carolina native warned of the potential up-ballot fallout following a bombshell CNN report that surfaced damning comments made by Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson — and begged his party to "stop voting for cartoon candidates."
GOP insider Doug Heye joined CNN anchor Anderson Cooper to weigh in on the fallout after CNN reported Thursday that Robinson made comments on a pornographic website, including an anecdote of spying on a women's locker room and the statement "I'm a black NAZI." The comments were made on the site Nude Africa years before the Trump-endorsed candidate entered the public realm.
Robinson has denied he made the comments and suggested they could've been made with artificial intelligence.
Heye said he's spoken to multiple current and former elected officials since the report was published, and emphasized that Robinson is not Donald Trump — and likely won't survive his version of the infamous "Access Hollywood" scandal. In that incident, a recording surfaced during Trump's 2016 campaign in which he made lewd and vulgar comments more than a decade earlier about women.
"[Robinson] was probably toast before today. Now he's just a bigger piece of toast," said Heye.
ALSO READ: Let's call Springfield what it is: Republican-made terrorism
The strategist said the larger issue at play in his state is the effect the report could have on the rest of the ballot.
"This isn't about the governor's race. That race is over. Josh Stein will win. The question is does this affect up-ballot. And I think potentially it does. And I know for a fact the Trump campaign is and has been worried that it does."
The campaign, said Heye, isn't only worried about Robinson's comments — but also that Trump has no ground game in the state.
"This campaign has no money. It has no ground game. It can't drive out their own voters. They're not all rowing in the same direction and that's a real problem for Trump," said Heye, noting he's heard for months the campaign was worried about what would happen when the comments came out.
Heye argued Trump bears some of the responsibility for the problem Robinson has created for Republicans since that's who he endorsed.
"This is another example of Republicans taking their own fists, and saying, 'Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself!" said Heye.
He later added that these types of candidates "sink Republicans."
"It's toxic. And Republicans need to learn — stop nominating, stop voting for these cartoon candidates, these "Addams Family" candidates who sink your chances in November. This is just the latest and outrageous example."
Watch the clip below or at this link.