Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has been a preferred personality to Trump, who has curiously referred to the black politician as “Martin Luther King on steroids” and showered him with praise. Robinson, on the other hand has reportedly referred to himself as a “Black Nazi.” Years ago, but arguably at a time in his life when he should have known better, he allegedly posted online that Martin Luther King was a”f***ing commie b**tard,” who he derisively called ’Martin Luther Koon.’
According to a report filed by CNN, Robinson authored a post in which he allegedly preferred the rule of Hitler over Obama in the United States. In another derogatory post, he called the civil rights champion Martin Luther King Jr a “f***ing commie b***ard” and said that if he was to be a part of the militant racist organisation Ku Klux Clan, he would have been called ‘Martin Lucifer Koon’.”/>
Robinson has denied writing the posts, which include racial and sexual comments. He said wouldn’t be forced out of the race by “salacious tabloid lies.” While Robinson won his GOP gubernatorial primary in March, he’s been trailing in several recent polls to Democratic nominee Josh Stein, the state’s attorney general.
“Let me reassure you the things that you will see in that story — those are not the words of Mark Robinson,” he told supporters in a video released by his campaign. “You know my words. You know my character.”
State law says a gubernatorial nominee had until Thursday night to withdraw as a candidate, the day before the first absentee ballots requested by military and overseas voters are distributed. The State Board of Elections is unaware of any such withdrawal notice, spokesperson Pat Gannon said. State Republican leaders could have picked a replacement had a withdrawal occurred.
“We are staying in this race,” Robinson said in the video. “We are in it to win it.”
Robinson has a history of inflammatory comments that Stein has said made him too extreme to lead North Carolina. They already have contributed to the prospect that campaign struggles for Robinson could help Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris win the state’s 16 electoral votes.
“The fallout is going to be huge,” Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University, said Friday.
Losing swing district races for a congressional seat and the General Assembly would endanger the GOP’s control of the U.S. House and retaining veto-proof majorities at the legislature.
Politics
CNN, which describes a series of comments that it said Robinson posted on the message board more than a decade ago, sent tremors through the state’s political class. While the state Republican Party came to Robinson’s defense, individual GOP leaders raised concerns and suggested Robinson needed to address the allegations more fully.
CNN reported that Robinson, who would be North Carolina’s first Black governor, attacked civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in searing terms and once referred to himself as a “black NAZI.” CNN also reported that Robinson wrote of being aroused by a memory of “peeping” women in gym showers when he was 14 along with an appreciation of transgender pornography. Robinson, at one point, referred to himself as a “perv,” according to CNN.
The Associated Press has not independently confirmed that Robinson wrote and posted the messages. CNN said it matched details of the account on the pornographic website forum to other online accounts held by Robinson by comparing usernames, a known email address and his full name.
CNN reported that details discussed by the account holder matched Robinson’s age, length of marriage and other biographical information. It also compared figures of speech that came up frequently in his public Twitter profile that appeared in discussions by the account on the pornographic website.
The state GOP said in a statement late Thursday that while Robinson has “categorically denied the allegations” it wouldn’t “stop the Left from trying to demonize him via personal attacks.”
But U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who endorsed a Robinson rival in the primary — citing Robinson’s lack of legislative and business experience — said on X that Thursday “was a tough day, but we must stay focused on the races we can win.”
“If Harris takes NC, she takes the White House,” he added. “We can’t let that happen.”
Democrats jumped on Robinson and other Republicans after the report aired, using every opportunity to show on social media photos of Robinson with Trump or with other GOP candidates attempting to tarnish them by association.
Stein and his allies have highlighted past comments by Robinson, such as a Facebook post from 2019 in which Robinson said abortion in America was about “killing the child because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down.” And there’s a 2021 speech by Robinson in a church in which he used the word “filth” when discussing gay and transgender people.
Robinson, 56, was elected lieutenant governor in his first bid for public office in 2020. He tells a life story of childhood poverty, jobs that he blames the North American Free Trade Agreement for ending, and personal bankruptcy.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, a top surrogate for Harris, said late Thursday on X that Trump and state GOP leaders “embraced Mark Robinson for years knowing who he was and what he stood for … They reap what they sow.”
