The Atlantic: Mark Robinson’s Dereliction of Duty

The Atlantic: Mark Robinson’s Dereliction of Duty

North Carolina political scientist on Robinson’s failure to do his job on the Military Affairs Commission: “…if he’s not putting his time [into] attending these meetings, I think that is a sign that it wasn’t a priority and isn’t a priority.”

Over the holiday weekend, The Atlantic reported that North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson has neglected one of his few official duties by failing to attend any meetings of the state’s Military Affairs Commission since taking office.

Despite making military and veterans’ issues a central theme of his campaign, records reveal that Robinson “has not attended a single meeting of the group in his four years as lieutenant governor.”

The investigation also notes that veterans are not the only North Carolinians Robinson has failed to show up for, and that his “attendance for many bodies, including the state board of education, has been infrequent.”

“This proves once again that Mark Robinson cares more about pushing his extreme agenda and stoking division than getting anything done for North Carolina families – even when it comes to helping veterans and military families,” said DGA Deputy Communications Director Izzi Levy. “If Mark Robinson can’t be bothered to show up and do his job now, he should certainly never be trusted to be governor.”

Read more from The Atlantic on how Mark Robinson “hasn’t kept his promises to veterans”:

• One of Robinson’s few statutory roles in his current post as lieutenant governor is to sit on North Carolina’s Military Affairs Commission, a state body that advises on exactly the sorts of veterans’ issues that Robinson talks so much about. And yet records from the MAC show that Robinson has not attended a single meeting of the group in his four years as lieutenant governor.
• …Chris Cooper, a political scientist at Western Carolina University, told me that in a job where the main responsibility is to attend meetings, attendance is meaningful. “You show how much you care with time,” he said. “That’s true if you’re a parent, and that’s true if you’re a politician—where you put your time is your priority. And if he’s not putting his time attending these meetings, I think that is a sign that it wasn’t a priority and isn’t a priority.”
• Robinson’s attendance for many bodies, including the state board of education, has been infrequent. The MAC meets quarterly, and minutes record Robinson as absent on every occasion since he took office in early 2021. That August, he lamented to an interviewer that Democrats and Republicans couldn’t even work on things where they agree.
• “You’re talking about veterans’ issues. We’re not opposed to the things that we need to do for our veterans. We could sit down and work on those things together,” he said. “But as with everything, that issue of politics often drives people apart and causes them not to be able to come to the table.” The very same day, when the MAC met, including representatives from both parties as well as nonpartisan members, Robinson was not at the table.
• “I’m here because our veterans are being pushed aside for illegals,” he said at a church event in May 2023. “I am here because our economy is in shambles. I am here because our nation is literally falling apart, and I need to be standing in the gap to pull her back from the precipice.” Two days later, he skipped another MAC meeting at which a program to encourage hiring veterans, ways to improve mental-health care for service members and veterans, and tax breaks for disabled veterans were all discussed.
• Discipline and sticking to commitments have evidently remained struggles for Robinson, as his attendance record demonstrates. Four years ago when he ran for lieutenant governor, Robinson warned against hollow promises from candidates.
• He’s now had the chance to sit in that room, but he still hasn’t shown up.

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