Weeks after an explosive CNN report detailed North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s history of posting racist and antisemitic content online, his Democratic opponent — the state’s Jewish attorney general — slammed Robinson, speaking personally about the impact the lieutenant governor has had on the state’s Jewish community.

“His antisemitic speech infuriates me as a Jewish person and as a person who knows and cares about a lot of Jews. I’ve seen the impact of his words on people,” Attorney General Josh Stein told Jewish Insider on Monday in an exclusive interview. 

Robinson’s history of posting objectionable content online is not new. Prior postings he made quoting Adolf Hitler and downplaying the Holocaust were reported by Jewish Insider last year. But CNN’s September report that Robinson had called himself a “black Nazi” in an online porn forum, along with several other incendiary comments, rocked the gubernatorial race. 

Several senior North Carolina Republicans distanced themselves from Robinson afterward, and four top staffers for Robinson’s campaign stepped down. He has dropped even further in the polls after trailing Stein for months. 

“Anyone who is so motivated and consumed by hating other people has no place in public life, and I’m exceptionally motivated to defeat not only Mark Robinson, but his vision of hate and division,” Stein said.

With two weeks to go until Election Day, North Carolina is one of the most closely watched battleground states in the country. Yet despite polls showing Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump remaining in a virtual tie, Stein is all but a lock to become the next governor. And while he is quick to go after Robinson, Stein told JI that his closing argument is more forward-focused.

“He fights job-killing culture wars,” Stein said of Robinson. “It’s about dividing people, speaking hate, and it’s not a path to a future of opportunity and growth, which is what our campaign is all about.” He touted his positions as attorney general in support of voting rights, abortion access, testing rape kits and addressing the fentanyl crisis. 

Stein grew up in Chapel Hill, the son of a prominent civil rights attorney. He likes to talk about the Jewish values with which he was raised, and how they shaped his commitment to public service.

“My Jewish faith teaches me that we’re all children of God, that we all can make a difference in our communities, and we all have a responsibility to make a difference in our communities,” Stein said. “Tikkun olam, to repair the world, is a driving value that my faith teaches and my parents instilled in my brother, sister and me. They always taught us to try to do what was right, even when it wasn’t easy.”

In the waning days of the campaign, Stein attended Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services at Temple Beth Or, a Reform congregation in Raleigh to which his family belongs. “It was a welcome opportunity to take a step back from the campaign and reflect on broader things,” Stein said.

Stein’s gubernatorial campaign has been compared to that of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who sailed to victory in 2022 against Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano. Like Stein, Shapiro’s campaign featured a Jewish attorney general named Josh running against a far-right Republican with a history of antisemitic remarks. Shapiro has made his faith a central part of his public identity, quoting Jewish texts frequently in stump speeches. 

But they differ in the way they have spoken about the unrest on American college campuses following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks last year. Where Shapiro has forcefully condemned the tactics and rhetoric of some anti-Israel protesters, Stein has treaded more carefully.

“Free speech is a value of paramount importance in our democracy, and people have every right to hold whatever views they do as it relates to the Middle East or any other issue, and I encourage college students to give voice to their views and their values,” Stein told JI. “But free speech cannot cross the line to hate speech or vandalism or violence, and when it does, it’s fully appropriate for folks to be held accountable, whether it’s accountable through university policies or through criminal law, depending on what the action was.”

Twice this year — in April and September — the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill drew headlines when anti-Israel activists removed the U.S. flag from a campus quad and replaced it with a Palestinian flag. Students also spray-painted anti-Israel and anti-American graffiti on some campus buildings last month. 

Stein has generally refrained from weighing in on the details of activity at particular campuses, and he declined to address the UNC incidents. 

“Every student has the right to be safe and feel safe on campus, and if there are students or groups of outsiders who aren’t students, but come on to college campuses who engage in speech or activity that threaten people’s sense of peace, that’s unacceptable,” said Stein. 

As attorney general, Stein has spoken out against rising antisemitism. But he told JI that it is not the job of attorney general to enforce hate crimes statutes or decide to target rule-breakers — that, he said, is the responsibility of local district attorneys. He did not share whether more should be done to combat antisemitism. 

“When folks engage in hate speech, whether it’s the lieutenant governor or anyone, you call it out, and you explain that those are not the values of this country, and folks can and should expect better,” Stein said. “We’ve definitely seen an uptick of antisemitism.” 

After the Oct. 7 attacks, Stein spoke at a Jewish community vigil in Raleigh. He wrote a letter to the Jewish community in Asheville offering condolences after the attack.

“Dates like Dec. 7, 1941, and Sept. 11, 2001, are etched in our minds forever as Americans. Now, Oct. 7, 2023, will forever be indelibly marked in the hearts of Israelis,” Stein wrote. “A nation has a right to defend itself when attacked. Israel has a right to defend itself. Violence and terror are not the ways to achieve a lasting and meaningful peace in this conflict.”

Stein has stood by his support for Israel, posting on Facebook earlier this month soon after Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel that the U.S. “must and will remain a committed ally to Israel throughout this crisis.” 

Still, he told JI that he does not think the war in the Middle East is something that should be a factor in the governor’s race. He also doesn’t think it will factor into voters’ decision-making next month. 

“We all want this war to come to an end. We all want the hostages to be freed, and we all want a lasting peace. Those are issues that the White House is working on every day. It’s just not in the job description of the governor to work on the details of trying to achieve those really core and critical goals,” said Stein.

Stein added that he believes the issues that will drive voters in November “are abortion rights, the economy and democracy — not Israel and Gaza.” 

“I just think those issues have so much greater salience to voters,” he said. “I think that’s what’s going to drive the election results on Nov. 5.”

CORRECTION: Because of an editing error, part of Stein’s quote on the most important issues in the election was left out. Stein said abortion rights, the economy and democracy were all bigger issues in the North Carolina governor’s race than Israel and Gaza.