RALEIGH, N.C. (WITN/Gray News) – A bombshell report from CNN is tying Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina, to disturbing comments made by a user on a porn message board before he entered politics.
Robinson has served as the lieutenant governor of North Carolina since 2021.
CNN’s report published Thursday made multiple cross-references that the outlet says tie Robinson to comments made by a user named “minisoldr” on the pornographic website Nude Africa between 2008 and 2012.
The report says that the user posted comments about secret peeping through vent covers as women showered.
Comments also expressed interest in transgender pornography, referring to it in derogatory terms.
Robinson, in recent years, has publicly spoken against transgender rights. In a 2021 speech at a church, he used the word “filth” when discussing gay and transgender people.
CNN’s report also says Robinson weighed in with disparaging views on race.
“Slavery is not bad. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it (slavery) back. I would certainly buy a few,” he wrote on the porn site, according to the report.
According to CNN, writing in a forum discussing Black Republicans in October 2010, Robinson stated unprovoked: “I’m a Black Nazi!”
Robinson also allegedly chimed in about abortion, though he is no stranger to being vocal about his stance. Previously in a Facebook post from 2019, Robinson said abortion in America was about “killing the child because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down.”
Robinson repeatedly denied to CNN that he made the message board comments.
Even before the report dropped, news of a pressure campaign for Robinson to drop out of the governor’s race began to spread through multiple media outlets.
Robinson is telling his supporters that he’s staying in the race for governor, despite reports he’s being pressured by Republicans to suspend his campaign.
Robinson posted a video on X Thursday afternoon, saying that the comments in the CNN report are “not the words of Mark Robinson.”
“You know my words. You know my character, and you know that I have been completely transparent in this race and before,” Robinson said.
“And folks, we’ve seen this type of stuff in the past as well. Clarence Thomas famously once said he was the victim of a high-tech lynching. Well, it looks like Mark Robinson is, too, by a man who refuses to stand on stage and debate me about the real issues that face you.”
Robinson accuses Attorney General Josh Stein’s gubernatorial campaign of leaking the story to the network.
Stein’s campaign sent out a statement following the publishing of CNN’s story:
“North Carolinians already know Mark Robinson is completely unfit to be Governor. Josh remains focused on winning this campaign so that together we can build a safer, stronger North Carolina for everyone.”
Scott Lassiter, the Republican nominee for the North Carolina Senate in southern Wake County, sent out a press release calling for Robinson to suspend his campaign.
“As a proud Republican, I stand for hard work, fiscal responsibility, and liberty. But no one should feel obligated to support a candidate solely due to party affiliation,” Lassiter stated. “Wrong is still wrong, and if the recent allegations against Robinson are true, combined with his previous public rhetoric, I believe it’s time for him to step aside. North Carolinians deserve a viable choice in this election.”
State law says a gubernatorial nominee could withdraw as a candidate no later than the day before the first absentee ballots requested by military and overseas voters are distributed. That begins Friday, so the withdrawal deadline would be late Thursday night.
Former President Donald Trump has frequently voiced his support for Robinson, who has been considered a rising star in his party, well-known for his fiery speeches and evocative rhetoric. Ahead of the March primary, Trump at a rally in Greensboro called Robinson “Martin Luther King on steroids” for his speaking ability.
Trump’s campaign did not immediately return a message to the Associated Press seeking comment on the reporting. Representatives for the GOP nominee’s campaign also did not immediately answer questions as to why Robinson was not with vice-presidential nominee JD Vance as he campaigned in Raleigh on Wednesday and whether Robinson would be with Trump in Wilmington on Saturday.
Robinson, 56, was elected lieutenant governor in his first bid for public office in 2020. He tells a life story of childhood poverty, jobs that he blames the North American Free Trade Agreement for ending, and personal bankruptcy. His four-minute speech to the Greensboro City Council defending gun rights and lamenting the “demonizing” of police officers went viral — and led him to a National Rifle Association board position and popularity among conservative voters.
Copyright 2024 WITN via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.