Mayor Roberson of Rocky Mount, NC, Candidate for Congress, Disses Trump, Allowed Monument Removal

North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District primary is set for May 17th. The multiple changes with the redistricting in North Carolina has left many unsure of who is running in their district. One candidate running in the Republican primary for the 1st District is Sandy Roberson.

Roberson is the current mayor of Rocky Mount, NC. He is in his third year as mayor of the city.

Rocky Mount as well as many other cities in the south faced calls to remove a Confederate monument. The decision was made to take down the monument and place it in storage. Roberson’s comments about the removal of the statue showed a disconnect. The mayor told CBS 17 “We certainly don’t want to create a touchstone of conflict… It really doesn’t matter to me.”

The Monument had stood in its former location for over a hundred years before its removal. Roberson admitted that it probably meant something to someone but not him.

In a tweet after the vote to remove the monument, Roberson tried to quelch backlash saying, “This decision is not about the confederacy and its place in our history, it is not about a monument and it is not about trying to rewrite history.”

Last night the City Council voted to remove the confederate statue to a more secure location until a permanent location can be found.
This decision is not about the confederacy and its place in our history, it is not about a monument and it is not about trying to rewrite history.

— Mayor Sandy Roberson (@MayorRoberson) June 9, 2020

Roberson choose to take the path of least resistance when it came to the removal of the monument. No one can say for sure what other history he will be okay with being removed, as there have been calls for the removal of some founding fathers’ statues from the capitol building in DC.

On Thursday, Roberson sat down and did an interview on 103.7 Talk of the Town with Henry Hinton. The interview gave Roberson a shot to express why he thinks he would be the best for the 1st District. He believes that he became mayor of Rocky Mount which he said was a very Democrat city. With the new district lines, the 1st District will lean more towards the Democrats with about a 9-10% lean according to Hinton. This, along with polling his team has done has made him feel confident.

When asked about a scathing audit of the city that was released shortly took over, he remarked that the mayor has little power and called the position a “bully pulpit” highlighting that he asked for resignations as a result of the audit.

Hinton brought up that it seems former President Donald Trump is snooping in the district. Hinton questioned Roberson if he had been talking to any of Trump’s people which Roberson said he had not. Hinton then asked, “Do you want a Trump endorsement?” Roberson didn’t give a direct answer just saying, “I want what’s best for the district… whether he endorses me or not is immaterial”.

Sandy Roberson wants to represent the 1st District, but will he represent what the people want? He is proud of winning in a very Democrat city and dismissive of the removal of American history in our view. Perhaps there may be other candidates who would be a better choice.

The full list of candidates for the Republican primary according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections are Brad Murphy, Ernest Reeves, Brent Roberson, Carrol Roberson Jr. (Sandy Roberson), Sandy Smith, Billy Strickland II, Henry Williams II, and William Aiken.