Embattled candidate Mark Robinson said Monday he is not exiting his bid to become the state’s first black governor.
Robinson, who was elected lieutenant governor in 2020, has come under scrutiny since a CNN/WRAL report last week that claimed he made racist and sexually provocative comments on a pornographic message board in 2008. The website has since been taken down.
Robinson addressed the alleged comments in a video Thursday, calling the accusations groundless. Watch the full video here.
“Clarence Thomas once famously said he was the victim of a high tech lynching,” Robinson said in the video, referring to the Supreme Court justice. “Well, it looks like Mark Robinson is, too.”
Robinson’s opponent, Democrat Attorney General Josh Stein, has hammered home attacks on Robinson over the CNN report. Stein has refused to debate Robinson, saying a debate would “legitimize” Robinson.
A number of Republican leaders have suggested Robinson step aside in the wake of the scandal. Sen. Thom Tillis, Tenn. Gov. Bill Lee, and others have withdrawn their endorsements. The state Republican party denied WRAL reports that leadership had asked Robinson to quit. Other Republican leaders and groups have defended Robinson. Former President Donald Trump, who previously called Robinson “Martin Luther King on steroids”, did not mention Robinson’s name during a rally on Saturday or at an event in Mint Hill Monday.
After a weekend when more rumors swirled and four staff members resigned, Robinson came out hard and fast Monday, promising to pursue legal action against CNN. After a reporter questioned him about the allegations at an event Monday, Robinson was cheered for chastising the reporter over the lack of media coverage of issues such as the opioid crisis and illegal immigration.
“I am dismayed about the fact, as I have said before, that this is what you choose to focus on. Think about how many people out there are hooked on fentanyl, and this is what you choose to focus on. Think about what’s going on our border.”
Robinson fired back at Stein’s campaign Monday.
“Josh Stein has a long track record of lying to North Carolina voters,” Robinson said in a statement Monday. “Stein’s false daycare ads and his desperately dishonest claims about a Board of Education vote are just more of the same dishonesty we’ve come to expect from Josh Stein and his desperate campaign.”
Robinson noted that Reuters and USA Today “debunked” Stein’s attacks on Robinson over education issues. Stein was also previously the target of a lawsuit by a Republican attorney general candidate over untrue statements in campaign advertising.
Robinson said that the screenshots from the porn website – which have not been independently verified — were manufactured to discredit the Republican.
“A deep-pocketed, long-time Josh Stein donor has committed to spend $1 million against Mark Robinson by using artificial intelligence to fabricate audio clips of things the lieutenant governor didn’t say,” the Robinson campaign said in a press release.
“Everything Josh Stein the Democrats say about Mark Robinson is either an outright lie or twisted so far out of context it might as well be,” the release said.
Four senior staff members submitted their resigations over the weekend, the campaign said.
Conrad Pogorzelski, III, general consultant and senior advisor; Chris Rodriguez, campaign manager; Heather Whillier, finance director; and Jason Rizk, deputy campaign manager, resigned from the campaign. Their replacements have not been officially announced.
“I appreciate the efforts of these team members who have made the difficult choice to step away from the campaign, and I wish them well in their future endeavors. I look forward to announcing new staff roles in the coming days,” Robinson said in a statement. “My campaign will continue to focus on the substantive issues at stake in this election: building an economy that grows from Murphy to Manteo; cutting taxes and eliminating unnecessary red-tape; removing politics out of our classrooms; and cracking down on violent crime and dangerous drugs.”
