Source: Editorial Board
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson called Gov. Roy Cooper’s response to Hurricane Helene “abysmal” and claimed he would be called a “hero” for his Hurricane Helene recovery efforts – even though he missed two votes on Helene-related requests from Gov. Roy Cooper.
First, Robinson missed a Council of State vote to grant Cooper emergency powers and declare a state of emergency ahead of Helene. He was the only member of the 10-member council not to cast a vote, NC Newsline reported.
After being asked by reporters why he didn’t vote, Robinson said the measure “was absolutely inconsequential” and that “it didn’t matter” because it “was going to pass with or without my vote.”
“It’s inexcusable in a time of crisis,” former North Carolina Republican Gov. Pat McCrory told WRAL of Robinson’s decision to skip the vote.
After missing the vote, Robinson told reporters that instead of voting, “Our response has been to respond to the people who have need.”
Robinson’s response has been to partner with Franklin County Sheriff Kevin White to bring supplies to western North Carolina via private flights.
The lieutenant governor told reporters that people would consider his actions heroic.
“I can guarantee you somebody out there, after all this is over, is going to look at me and say, ‘You know, you are a hero for what you did,'” Robinson said.
As for Cooper’s handling of Helene, he didn’t wait for the storm to hit before taking action. He declared a state of emergency ahead of Helene and had resources staged and ready to head to the mountains. Since the hurricane tore through western North Carolina, Cooper has been to the area multiple times, including a trip with President Joe Biden. He has also met with Vice President Kamala Harris in Charlotte where they attended a Helene briefing with local officials and then met with families impacted by the hurricane.
After the fallout of missing the first vote, Robinson was presented with another opportunity to do his job when Cooper requested an executive order to help meet the state’s response and recovery needs in supporting storm relief efforts, CBS 17 reported.
The order increases the pool of professional health care workers, suspends certain fees for North Carolina vital records, and places a standing order for emergency medications, among other actions.
Council of State members had 48 hours to respond to Cooper’s request. Once again, Robinson was the only member who didn’t vote.
His office told CBS 17 that he “followed up to concur with the executive order after Cooper issued it” and then said the delayed response was due to an email error that resulted in the governor’s request going to former staff members. Nearly every staffer quit the campaign after CNN released their investigation of Robinson’s activities on a porn message board.
Robinson’s comments to the press and on social media claiming that Cooper and the federal government have bungled the response to Helene are false and could be doing real harm to the efforts in western North Carolina.
“An online disinformation campaign by the lieutenant governor during an unprecedented crisis is unhelpful, causes confusion in areas with limited communications and potentially puts lives at risk,” Jordan Monaghan, a spokesman for the governor, said in a statement.
“State, federal and local partners are leading a massive, coordinated response to a catastrophic storm,” Monaghan added. “The governor declared a state of emergency well before this storm hit, has led public briefings from the Emergency Operations Center since last week, and continues to visit affected regions to coordinate more resources. Resources from across the state and country are deployed to help the people and communities of western North Carolina.”
