Donald Trump returns Saturday for a campaign rally in North Carolina, where the former president is confronting a mess he played a key role in making in the critical battleground state.

Donald Trump delivered a speech attacking rival Kamala Harris and detailing his campaign pledges during a visit to North Carolina, while avoiding mention of the state’s Republican gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson and the firestorm surrounding his candidacy.

Robinson, the lieutenant governor of North Carolina, allegedly posted inflammatory comments on the message board of a pornography website years ago, CNN reported.

Donald Trump returned to North Carolina on Saturday, stumping in the southern battleground state with direct appeals to women.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will not be joined by his party's embattled pick for North Carolina governor when he visits the critical electoral state on Saturday, the Trump campaign said.

The former president did not mention Mr. Robinson, the state’s embattled Republican nominee for governor, whom he once called “Martin Luther King on steroids.”

Donald Trump campaigned in North Carolina on Saturday, but his embattled Republican ally, gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, was nowhere to be seen. Robinson, who has appeared at previous Trump rallies in the battleground state,

Trump will be campaigning in Wilmington without Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson following a CNN report about his alleged posts on a pornography website’s message board.

Trump did not mention Robinson − his party's nominee for governor of a key state − before or during an airport rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, two days after a bombshell news report about Robinson's online habits threatened Trump's chances in a key battleground.

Controversy swirling around a North Carolina Republican candidate for governor is causing political turbulence in a must-win swing state for Donald Trump. The BBC asked conservatives there what they make of the alleged scandal. It was during a regular meeting of the Johnston County Republican Women’s committee that they heard the news.

Mark Robinson, whom Donald Trump has endorsed for governor of NC, has been a frequent presence at Trump's campaign events.