Mark Robinson could have problems with voters and influence the presidential race in North Carolina
Who is Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor of North Carolina?
A new investigation by CNN’s K File uncovered sexually explicit posts on a pornographic website allegedly from Mark Robinson.
BURNSVILLE, NC – Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson had just delivered a fiery speech to about 100 people on a grassy town square in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina when he added a word of caution.
“Winning this election in November is not going to be easy for any of us,” Robinson said during a rally in early September. “Not for a single Republican.”
CNN reported on Thursday about a “series of inflammatory comments” Robinson allegedly made on a porn website’s message board over a decade ago. The posts ranged from support for the reinstatement of slavery to calling himself a “black NAZI!”
Robinson denies being the author of the messages.
Since launching his gubernatorial campaign last year and confidently winning the North Carolina primary in March, the current lieutenant governor has earned a reputation for controversial statements, including mocking victims of school shootings and supporting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
Throughout, Robinson has been in lockstep with party chairman and former President Donald Trump. The two have made several joint appearances in North Carolina and supported each other in their campaigns.
Before the news broke last week, several Tar Heel State voters told USA TODAY that they are committed to Trump and therefore plan to vote exclusively Republican for the rest of their ballots.
But in light of this latest scandal, Robinson may be on his own, facing a difficult campaign that could have consequences for Republicans across the 2024 ballot.
Support for Robinson declining
Robinson’s campaign had already suffered a popularity slump in September, when several polls showed him trailing by double digits against his opponent, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein.
Despite having the same platform and largely the same GOP base, Robinson’s numbers lagged behind Trump’s.
While Robinson, whose gubernatorial race was considered the most hotly contested this election cycle, fell behind, Trump remains one percentage point ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris in North Carolina, according to a recent poll by Emerson College Polling and The Hill.
Robinson’s campaign team said in a statement last Tuesday that they were not concerned: “Polls have consistently underestimated Republican support in North Carolina for several cycles,” said Mike Lonergan, the campaign’s communications director. “Mark Robinson remains a strong contender to win in November.”
Lonergan did not respond to a further request for comment since Thursday’s report.
Matthew Pearl, 37, moved to North Carolina two years ago and told USA TODAY earlier this month he hadn’t paid much attention to the gubernatorial race. Pearl, a registered Republican who plans to vote for Trump, said at the time he would likely vote for fellow Republican Robinson.
But since she read the CNN report, that is no longer the case, says Pearl.
“It definitely disgusted me,” said Pearl, who lives in Belmont, west of Charlotte, North Carolina. “It was pretty overwhelming to see … there are negative things that everyone has, but something like you’re not a good person.”
Pearl said he did not believe Robinson’s denials and had begun looking into Robinson’s opponent, Stein, but was still in the process of making a decision.
But he said: “I know I’m not going to vote for Mark Robinson, I can tell you that.”
“Mixed reviews” from Tar Heel State voters
Amid a fairground route packed with fried food stalls and colorful rides, Christina Osterbind manned a modest booth filled with Trump merchandise at the 10-day North Carolina Mountain State Fair in Asheville earlier this month.
As she sold her wares in the lingering summer heat, Osterbind, 46, who lives in Virginia, said she talked to many fairgoers about politics. In addition to the presidential campaign, she said she had heard from many about the gubernatorial race.
And did people there support Robinson as much as they did Trump before the news broke?
“Yes and no,” she said.
“It’s been a mixed review,” Osterbind continued. “Many of them don’t mind him. They like him. They like a lot of his views. But there are some things they don’t agree with.”
Kenny Hollifield, 52, has not yet made up his mind on the presidential race, but said he is leaning toward Trump at this point.
“I don’t like either of them,” but “I’m in favor of more fiscally responsible policies,” says Hollifield, a construction project manager from Marion, North Carolina, on the edge of the mountains.
But when it comes to the gubernatorial election, Hollifield is much more determined: “Definitely not Mark Robinson,” he says. “Too fanatical.”
“He’s just too radical for me, especially on the gun issue,” Hollifield added, saying he plans to vote for Stein this year.
Robinson first rose to prominence at a Greensboro city council meeting in 2018 when he spoke passionately about gun rights. He entered politics soon after, becoming the state’s first black lieutenant governor in 2020.
Further consequences of the Robinson scandal
Trump, who once called Robinson “Martin Luther King on steroids,” appears to be putting distance between himself and the controversial candidate.
At a campaign rally in Wilmington on Saturday, Trump made no mention of Robinson. That same day, 100 miles away in Fayetteville, Robinson made his first public appearance since the CNN report.
Inciting comments, resignations of employees: What we know about the Mark Robinson scandal
Still, the former president has not withdrawn his support for Robinson, and NBC News reported Friday that he has no plans to do so, despite calls from allies and advisers.
But other prominent Republicans are withdrawing their support, including Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. Lee, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, was scheduled to host a fundraiser this week in Greensboro, North Carolina, where each ticket costs $500. But his office confirmed Friday that the event and Lee’s appearance have been canceled.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp also “will not offer any further support to the Robinson campaign,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Monday.
Since the scandal became public, several staff members have resigned. The campaign team announced on Sunday that top adviser Conrad Pogorzelski, campaign manager Chris Rodriguez, finance director Heather Whillier and deputy campaign manager Jason Rizk had resigned.
Immediately after the news was published on CNN, Cook Political Report changed its rating of the North Carolina gubernatorial election to “likely Democrat.”
Large parts of the White House in North Carolina
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called the allegations against Robinson “troubling” during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
“If they are true, he is unfit for office,” Graham said. “If they are not true, he has the best libel suit in the history of the country.”
Still, Graham told NBC’s Kristen Welker that he does not believe this incident will prove tragic for the rest of the Republican Party.
“Robinson is going to have to deal with this. There is nothing, no accusation against Trump. It’s all about Robinson,” Graham said on Sunday. “It’s him, not me, not Trump. He’s the one who allegedly said these things. He has the right to defend himself. He has to defend himself.”
The Democrats, however, certainly hope the opposite.
“This is great news for Democrats,” Senator John Fetterman (D-Penn.) said on Meet the Press on Sunday. “I mean, Robinson is basically the new dream candidate to run against.”
If Robinson pulls Trump down in a kind of reverse coattails, a Harris victory in the contested North Carolina could be the decisive decision in this year’s presidential election campaign.
In North Carolina, Trump’s lead is smaller than his lead over President Joe Biden in the polls before Biden dropped out of the race in late July.
In a memo Friday, the Harris team claimed that North Carolina was “even more competitive at the presidential level” after last week’s bombshell.
“Donald Trump and Mark Robinson have historically praised each other, campaigned side by side, and pursued the same toxic agenda,” the memo states. “The fates of Donald Trump and Mark Robinson in North Carolina are closely intertwined.”
