A Republican gubernatorial candidate in North Carolina has firmly declared his intention to remain in the race despite emerging reports of controversial remarks he allegedly made on a pornographic website over a decade ago.
Mark Robinson dismissed the CNN report, which claimed he referred to himself as a “black Nazi” on an adult forum, labeling it as “salacious tabloid lies.” He is facing mounting pressure from state Republican officials and associates of Donald Trump to withdraw, according to unnamed sources cited by the Carolina Journal.
In the upcoming November presidential election, Democrat Kamala Harris aims to reclaim this critical swing state from Trump, a Republican.
At 56, Robinson, a former furniture manufacturer, made history in 2020 as North Carolina’s first Black lieutenant governor. He secured the gubernatorial nomination in March after receiving an endorsement from Trump, who characterized him as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
The CNN report indicated that from 2008 to 2012, Robinson frequented a porn site called Nude Africa, using the username “minisoldr.” The report alleged that minisoldr expressed enjoyment in watching “tranny” porn and remarked, “Yeah, I’m a ‘perv’ too!” The BBC has yet to verify these claims.
In 2021, Robinson faced backlash for asserting that schoolchildren should not be exposed to discussions about “transgenderism, homosexuality, any of that filth,” yet he refused to issue an apology.
In a video shared on X, formerly Twitter, coinciding with the publication of the CNN story, Robinson asserted his innocence. “Let me reassure you, the things you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson,” he stated. “We are staying in this race. We are in it to win it.” He claimed to be the target of a “high-tech lynching” orchestrated by his white Democratic rival, Josh Stein.
Stein’s campaign responded, declaring that “North Carolinians already know Mark Robinson is completely unfit to be governor.” Current opinion polls suggest that Stein, a Harvard-educated attorney general, has a significant lead in the contest.
The North Carolina Republican Party issued a statement defending Robinson, alleging that “the Left” is attempting to tarnish his reputation through personal attacks. Meanwhile, the Harris campaign released a video on social media reminding voters of Trump’s past endorsements of Robinson.
The deadline for candidates to withdraw from the gubernatorial race was set for Thursday evening, coinciding with the distribution of postal ballots on Friday. Early voting is slated to commence in less than a month.
Recent polling indicates that Harris and Trump are nearly tied among likely voters in North Carolina. Historically, the Tar Heel State has favored Republicans, with only one Democratic presidential nominee securing a victory there in the past two decades. In the previous election, Trump narrowly defeated Joe Biden by under 2%. Democrats have intensified their campaigning efforts in the state this election season.
