Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor of North Carolina, called himself a “black NAZI” and said “slavery is not bad” in years-long comments on an internet pornographic forum. CNN reported on Thursday.
Robinson, the controversial lieutenant governor of the swing state that can determine the presidential election, also published explicit sexual messages in dozens of posts on this forum via an account linked to him, in accordance with CNN's “KFile”.
The candidate, who was praised by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump just last month, described himself within the forum as a “pervert” with a penchant for transgender porn, in accordance with CNN.
Reached for comment, Robinson's campaign spokesman Michael Lonergan referred CNBC to a video by which the Republican denies the report and accuses his Democratic opponent, state Attorney General Josh Stein, of leaking the story to CNN.
“I can assure you that the things you will see in this story are not the words of Mark Robinson,” the candidate said within the statement addressed on to the camera. shared on X lower than an hour before the report was published.
Before the CNN bombshell, Robinson was under pressure from Trump campaign staff and members to drop out of the race, the Carolina Journal reported, citing sources conversant in the matter.
The Trump team denied that it was attempting to pressure Robinson to resign. “That is absolutely untrue,” spokesman Brian Hughes told NBC News.
Robinson indicated in his video Thursday that he wouldn’t surrender the race in North Carolina, where the primary mail-in ballots are scheduled to be sent out on Friday.
Recent Surveys In the race for the highest job in North Carolina, Stein has at times had a big lead over Robinson. The Democrat launched a brand new initiative on Thursday called “Republicans for Stein.”
Robinson, who won his state's Republican gubernatorial primary in March, has already been at the middle of a variety of controversies and scandals.
Recent reports include a September 3 report by North Carolina investigative media The Assembly that Robinson visited 24-hour porn shops' private video booths as much as five nights every week within the Nineties and early 2000s.
His campaign spokesman denied this report and attacked the reporters, accusing them of being “degenerate.”
Robinson has also been accused of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial before, including for his 2018 Facebook post by which he wrote: “This nonsense that Hitler disarmed MILLIONS of Jews and then took them to concentration camps is a load of nonsense.”
He denied be an anti-Semite.
Robinson, a staunch anti-abortionist, also said throughout the 2024 election campaign that his wife had an abortion 30 years ago, and called it “a very difficult decision.”
The statement followed reports of Robinson's 2019 comment that abortion was “not about protecting the lives of mothers… It's about killing the child because you weren't responsible enough to keep your skirt down.”
Despite these and other divisive remarksRobinson has repeatedly received praise from Trump.
In March, Trump compared Robinson to a civil rights legend Martin Luther King, Jr. “on steroids.” At a campaign rally on August 21 in Asheboro, North Carolina, Trump called Robinson a “good man” and said he “has to win.”
Robinson spoke on the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in mid-July.
Trump is anticipated to return to the Tar Heel State on Saturday to handle a rally specializing in jobs, inflation and the economy.
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