North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, Republican Mark Robinson, suffered burns Friday night at a truck show while campaigning for governor, his campaign said.
Robinson was injured while appearing at the Mayberry Truck Show in Mount Airy, campaign spokesman Mike Lonergan said in a statement.
Robinson was treated for second-degree burns at Northern Regional Hospital in Mount Airy, he added.
“He’s in good spirits, appreciates the outpouring of well-wishes and is excited to get back on the campaign trail as the first thing scheduled,” Lonergan said.
Lonergan did not immediately respond to texts seeking details about how and where the burns occurred. Robinson made a campaign stop with the Moore County Republicans Friday morning. He has four appearances scheduled on Saturday.
Robinson, who has been lieutenant governor since 2021, is running against incumbent Attorney General Josh Stein, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate. The current governor, Democrat Roy Cooper, is barred by term limits from running this fall.
Several Republicans distanced themselves from Robinson following a September 19 CNN report accusing him of posting strongly worded racial and sexist comments on an online message board. A dozen of his campaign staffers or his lieutenants left the governor’s office.
Robinson, who has faced criticism for other inflammatory comments, has denied writing the news more than a decade ago and has hired a law firm to investigate.
Located about 100 miles (161 km) north of Charlotte near the Virginia border, Mount Airy is where the late television star Andy Griffith grew up. The community inspired the fictional town of Mayberry on The Andy Griffith Show, which aired in the 1960s. City leaders have embraced that history with homams and festivals associated with the event.
