Robinson resists calls to end gubernatorial bid amid reports of questionable online posts
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson cancelled two gubernatorial campaign events on Thursday. He's now resisting calls to drop out of the race.
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson wrote in online forums that he liked transgender porn, peeped inside women’s locker rooms and wanted to own slaves, a source familiar with the matter told Anderson Alerts.
CNN on Thursday afternoon confirmed the source’s account, along with supporting evidence and screenshots. The reporter for CNN who published the story Thursday afternoon didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Robinson, who cancelled two campaign events on Thursday morning, released a video on social media in the afternoon denying claims he made such comments online. He also vowed to remain in the race.
“The things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson,” he said in the video, adding, “We are staying in this race. We are in it to win it.”
Robinson's closest advisers and Robinson himself didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment throughout Thursday.
Robinson recently came under fire for allegedly attending video pornography stores, and is now facing pressure to bow out of the governor’s race, according to multiple sources.
North Carolina is scheduled to begin mailing out military and overseas ballots to voters on Friday, giving Robinson minimal wiggle room under state law to drop out.
Patrick Gannon, a spokesman for the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said in a statement that candidates have until 11:59 p.m. to submit a written notice of withdrawal. The state party of the withdrawn candidate could then select a replacement.
By Friday morning, Gannon said no candidate in North Carolina had submitted paperwork to withdraw from the race.
“We are not aware of any such communications at this time,” Gannon said in a statement.
David Wheeler, co-founder of the American Muckrakers PAC, released a statement ahead of an anticipated CNN story release, saying, "Robinson and his crime family should never have been involved in politics. North Carolinians are about to see and hear the final reason why. Just like Trump, Robinson is about to burn his reputation and his party's chances in November to the ground. Josh Stein will have mega coat tails.”
Prominent Republicans have expressed concern that a Robinson candidacy could hurt the party up and down the ballot, including former President Donald Trump.
“Trump is being weighed down by a very unpopular Republican candidate for governor,” Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s former chief of staff, said in an Aug. 17 interview with NewsNation.
On Thursday, the Carolina Journal, a conservative news site, reported that Robinson is “under pressure from staff and members of the Trump campaign to withdraw from the governor’s race due to the nature of the [CNN] story.”
It’s not just Trump folks upset with the campaign’s direction.
Republican Scott Lassiter, who is running in a tossup state Senate district in Wake County, urged Robinson to bow out.
“No one should feel obligated to support a candidate solely due to party affiliation,” Lassiter said in a statement. “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.”
Representatives for Republican House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger didn’t respond to a request for comment on whether the officeholders wanted Robinson to bow out of the race.
Robinson is trailing Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein in most major polls by double digits, though insiders expect the race to be highly competitive.
At a Sept. 3 campaign stop in Franklinton, Stein told reporters he’d encourage supporters not to take anything for granted.
“I think it’s tighter than what a lot of the polls indicate,” Stein said. “I think the race is going to be tight ‘til the very end. It’s just how elections are in North Carolina. There just are not blowout elections.”
On Thursday, Robinson reiterated calls for Stein to debate him. Two weeks earlier, Stein said he expected to debate Robinson, while Robinson ignored a question on whether he’d debate Stein. The two have since appeared to reverse their positions on debating, making this the first time since 1972 North Carolina hasn’t held a gubernatorial debate.
Robinson accused Stein of being behind the attacks leveled against, despite Wheeler appearing to take credit for the claims of Robinson’s questionable online postings.
“You all have seen the half-truths and outright lies of Josh Stein on these ads over and over again,” Robinson said in a video Thursday afternoon. “And now, a story leaked by him to CNN is appearing now.”
Stein’s campaign responded with a statement that the revelations about Robinson reenforce what has already been known about the lieutenant governor.
“North Carolinians already know Mark Robinson is completely unfit to be governor,” Stein’s campaign said in a statement. “Josh remains focused on winning this campaign so that together we can build a safer, stronger North Carolina for everyone.”
On Saturday, North Carolina Republican leaders reaffirmed their support of Robinson. Michael Whatley, chairman of the Republican National Committee, told reporters he knows Robinson is underperforming Trump, but said he believed that it was a function of lower name ID for the lieutenant governor.
“I understand the concern that’s been raised with it because you do have a spread between Donald Trump and Mark Robinson,” Whatley said. “We’re seeing similar spreads around the country with other statewide races. I think that really is a name ID type issue.”
Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop, who is running for attorney general, said in an interview he doesn’t see Robinson impacting his prospects.
“I’m not concerned about that,” Bishop said of Robinson hurting him politically. “I want every Republican to do well. I do think President Trump being strong again in North Carolina, which I certainly expect, is going to be important to those of us down ballot from him.”
The North Carolina Republican Party released a statement blaming Democrats for raising the revelations and calling it a distraction from the issues Republicans want to discuss.
“The Left can try to smear Mark Robinson all they want, but when voters go to the polls on Election Day, they are going to be asking one simple question: ‘Are you better off now than you were four years ago?’” the NCGOP wrote. “The answer is overwhelmingly no and that’s why Republicans will win on November 5th.”
The statement didn’t address whether the party leadership supports Robinson or wants him out of the governor’s race. A party spokesman deferred to the lieutenant governor’s campaign for further questions.
Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, released a statement linking Trump to Robinson and urging voters to reject the pair.
“Donald Trump hand-picked Mark Robinson, uplifted his campaign, and has been on the trail espousing their extreme agenda with him as recently as late August,” Clayton said. “This November, North Carolinians will reject Donald Trump, Mark Robinson, and NC MAGA Republicans' extreme, divisive agenda and bring our state forward.”
This is a developing story and will continue to be updated as news develops. The paywall for this story has been lifted. Please consider a paid subscription to support this continued reporting.