A recent scandal involving Mark Robinson, the Trump-endorsed Republican candidate for governor in North Carolina, has sent shockwaves through the state’s GOP. Former Congressman Adam Kinzinger referred to it as a “gut punch” for Republicans in the area.
According to a CNN report released on Thursday, Robinson, who also serves as the state’s lieutenant governor, has a history of offensive posts dating back over a decade. In these posts, he allegedly referred to himself as a “Black Nazi,” made troubling comments about slavery, and used derogatory terms for Muslims, while also expressing a contradictory fascination with transgender pornography despite his political stance against it.
As the scandal unfolds, Robinson has rejected calls to exit the race, labeling the allegations as “outrageous lies” and maintaining that he did not make those statements.
Grant Baldwin
Kinzinger, a critic of Trump, stated during a CNN segment that these revelations could be detrimental to both North Carolina Republicans and the Trump campaign. He suggested that the fallout could demoralize voters, possibly affecting turnout in a state where the presidential race is closely contested.
Polling indicates the North Carolina presidential race is very tight, with an average lead for Trump of just 0.1 percent as of Thursday. Prior to the scandal, Robinson had already been trailing Democratic candidate Josh Stein in gubernatorial polls for some time, with recent surveys showing him behind by double digits.
In a video response, Robinson dismissed the CNN reporting as “salacious tabloid trash,” asserting that those words are not his and accusing Stein of instigating a “high-tech lynching.” Meanwhile, the North Carolina Republican Party defended Robinson, claiming the posts made on a pornography site between 2008 and 2012 were a smear tactic orchestrated by the Left.
Despite the controversy, Donald Trump, who has called Robinson a “Martin Luther King on steroids,” refrained from commenting publicly on the scandal. The Trump campaign issued a statement emphasizing their focus on winning the White House, referencing North Carolina’s importance, but without mentioning Robinson.