North Carolina lieutenant governor to stay in gubernatorial race after surfaced posts supporting slavery

RALEIGH, N.C. (CN) — North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson said Thursday he had no plans to withdraw from the race for governor, despite resurfaced messages exposed in a CNN report that claims that he called himself a Nazi and supported slavery in porn forums more than a decade ago.

Robinson — a Republican and North Carolina’s first Black lieutenant governor — called himself a victim of high-tech lynching in a video message posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, posted shortly before CNN’s article went live on Thursday.

“Let me reassure you, the things you will see in that story 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,” he said.

In October 2010, CNN reported, Robinson posted “I’m a black NAZI!” on a forum and supported the return of slavery.

“Slavery is not bad,” CNN attributes Robinson as saying. “Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it back. I would certainly buy a few,” he wrote.

CNN also reported that during 2008 and 2012, Robinson posted on the Nude Africa website talking about peeping on women in locker rooms in public gym showers as a 14-year-old. He also discussed a love for transgender porn. All of Robinson’s comments preceded his political career.

Publicly, Robinson has railed against transgender rights, saying earlier this year that transgender women should be arrested for using the women’s bathroom.

The CNN report follows a story by investigative reporting platform The Assembly, which reported earlier in September that Robinson frequented porn shops in the 1990s and early 2000s. Robinson campaign spokesperson Mike Lonergan told The Assembly then that those accusations were completely false.

Robinson is running against Democrat Attorney General Josh Stein to secure the governor seat. A poll that ended Wednesday puts Stein at a five point lead, with 47% to Robinson’s 42%.

“Everything Josh Stein (and) the Democrats say about Mark Robinson is either an outright lie or twisted so far out of context it might as well be,” Robinson’s campaign said in a statement. “The people of North Carolina have had enough lies from career politicians like Josh Stein — and that’s why they’ll elect Mark Robinson governor on November 5.”

“North Carolinians already know Mark Robinson is completely unfit to be governor,” Stein’s campaign said in a comment Thursday. “Josh remains focused on winning this campaign so that together we can build a safer, stronger North Carolina for everyone.”

Robinson’s campaign has been littered with controversies, including a state review into a nonprofit his wife ran, which was found to owe the state over $130,000.

Robinson has also been criticized for his vocal anti-abortion views, and recently released a political ad to shift the public perspective, confessing that he and he wife had an abortion, and that he supported abortion up to 12 weeks.

His competitor Stein has run ads including anti-abortion comments from Robinson, including 2019 comments from Robinson criticizing women who get abortions. Robinson also referred to abortion as “murder” and “genocide” on Facebook in 2018.

“Abortion in this country is not about protecting the lives of mothers. It’s about killing the child because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down,” Robinson said in a 2019 Facebook live. Robinson has contended that the quote excluded context that also placed responsibility on men.

In the past, Robinson has also drawn scrutiny for making antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ comments, calling the Civil Rights Movement a communist plot and mocking school shooting survivors.

Robinson’s economic plan includes investments in infrastructure, reducing “red-tape” regulations and supporting cryptocurrency. He was launched into politics after making a speech in favor of gun rights at a city council meeting in 2018, and was elected to office in 2020.

A representative for Robinson’s campaign also denied rumors that Robinson is under pressure from the Trump presidential campaign to withdraw.

Former President Donald Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, was in North Carolina on Wednesday, and was not joined by Robinson, nor did he voice support for him. Trump endorsed Robinson in March after Robinson won the primary to be the Republican gubernatorial candidate, comparing him to Martin Luther King Jr.

As ballots mail out in North Carolina on Friday, Thursday is the final day that Robinson would be able to withdraw his candidacy. Several Republicans have encouraged him to resign.

Local Republican leaders, including Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger and Speaker Tim Moore, did not reply to a request for comment.

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