"He has no power or authority over me," Sen. Mayfield says of exchange with lieutenant gov

North Carolina state Sen. Julie Mayfield (D- District 49) said she has no regrets for speaking out against Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson on the Senate floor Monday night.

After the speech, Robinson confronted Mayfield, saying "Next time you get ready to say something on the floor, come see me.” Part of the exchange was caught on video by Sen. Natasha Marcus.

"To me, remaining silent in the face of his comments and in the face of his leadership in the Senate was just not an option," Mayfield said on Tuesday.

The senator said she did not take what Robinson said as a threat.

"No I don’t take it as a threat, he has no power or authority over me," Mayfield said. "I don’t have to clear anything with him before I say it."

Mayfield said she felt compelled to address her fellow senators following repeated remarks made by Robinson denouncing the LGBTQ+ community.

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Although she didn't directly name him in her speech, she said it was directed at him.

"If I had thought there was a glimmer of hope that he had an open mind on this, that he was open to a conversation about his views on the LGBTQ community, I would have gone to him first, which I think is what he was criticizing me for," Mayfield said.

As the lieutenant governor, Robinson is the president of the North Carolina State Senate.

"As elected leaders we have the responsibility to serve all of our constituents, not just those who look like us," Mayfield said during the speech.

Mayfield added that government officials don't just represent those who voted for them.

"He is our lieutenant governor. If he were Mark Robinson 'Joe Blow' citizen he can obviously say whatever he wants, but we have a higher obligation in my view as elected officials to represent and have an open door to all of our constituents," Mayfield said.

Two weeks ago Robinson made comments about transgender people during a sermon at a Winston Salem church.

"You might be a cut up, dressed up, drugged up, ugly man or woman, but you still a man or a woman and I don’t care who doesn’t like it," Robinson told people at the church.

The video of Robinson and Mayfield has since gone viral across the state.

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"This was a very personal confrontation," said Chris Cooper, political science professor at Western Carolina University. "As a citizen, I don’t like to see it. Julie Mayfield gave a speech on the floor that asked for decorum."

Cooper told News 13 Robinson appeared to be threatening Mayfield.

"I would take it as a threat and I think he said what he intended to threaten her to demean her," Cooper said.

Robinson's actions have been disappointing to many in the LGBTQ+ community.

"I honestly don’t want to give much more attention to what he said, but what is critically important is that LGBTQ people especially LGBTQ youth know that they're loved," said Buncombe County Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, representing the Campaign for Southern Equality.

Those calling out Robinson's actions include some LGBTQ conservatives.

"We would say that the Republican Party nationally as well as former President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have welcomed LGBTQ conservatives with open arms into the party and we hope that the North Carolina Republican Party takes the playbook from the national party," said Kyle Luebke, president of the Log Cabin Republicans of NC.

The lieutenant governor's office provided the following statements on Dec. 6, 2021:

Senator Mayfield’s comments were not in regard to any legislation being presented on the floor. The Senator was equating the lynching of African-Americans, to the hardships of the LGBTQ+ community. The Senator equating one of the darkest points in American history to any issue; is an attempt to score political points for the upcoming midterms. These comments, while not naming the Lt. Governor directly, were her way of personally attacking him. The Lt. Governor is not a politician, if he feels there is a difference of opinion, he will not cower behind social media to address it; he will go directly to the source.

The Lt. Governor has not hidden from his Conservative Christian beliefs and will not waver from them. However, as he has said many times, we do not live in a theocracy; we live in a Constitutional Republic where everyone has the right to express themselves however they want. This includes the LGBTQ+ community, and the Lt. Governor will always fight to protect the rights of all people.