RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) 鈥� North Carolina Republican gubernatorial nominee vowed on Thursday to remain in the race despite a that he posted strongly worded racial and sexual comments on an online message board, saying he won鈥檛 be forced out by 鈥渟alacious tabloid lies.鈥�
Robinson, the sitting lieutenant governor who decisively won his GOP gubernatorial primary in March, has been trailing in several recent polls to Democratic nominee Josh Stein, the current attorney general.
鈥淲e are staying in this race. We are in it to win it,鈥� Robinson said in a video posted Thursday on the social media platform X. 鈥淎nd we know that with your help, we will.鈥�
Robinson referenced in the video a story that he said CNN was running, but he didn't give details.
鈥淟et me reassure you the things that you will see in that story 鈥� those are not the words of Mark Robinson," he said. "You know my words. You know my character.鈥�
The CNN report describes a series of racial and sexual comments Robinson posted on the message board of a pornography website more than a decade ago.
CNN reported that Robinson, who would be North Carolina鈥檚 first Black governor, attacked civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in searing terms and once referred to himself as a 鈥渂lack NAZI.鈥�
CNN also reported that Robinson wrote of being aroused by a memory of 鈥減eeping鈥� women in gym showers when he was 14 along with an appreciation of transgender pornography. Robinson at one point referred to himself as a 鈥減erv,鈥� 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鈥檚 age, length of marriage and other biographical information. It also compared figures of speech that were used in his public Facebook profile and that appeared in discussions by the account on the pornographic website.
Media outlets already have reported about a in which he used the word 鈥渇ilth鈥� when discussing gay and transgender people.
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 would hurt former President Donald Trump to win the battleground state鈥檚 16 electoral votes, and potential other GOP downballot candidates.
Recent polls of North Carolina voters show Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris locked in a close race. The same polls show Stein with a roughly 10-point lead over Robinson.
Stein and his allies have repeatedly cited from 2019 in which Robinson said abortion in America was about 鈥渒illing the child because you weren鈥檛 responsible enough to keep your skirt down.鈥�
The Stein campaign said in a statement after the report that 鈥淣orth Carolinians already know Mark Robinson is completely unfit to be Governor.鈥�
State law says a gubernatorial nominee could withdraw as a candidate no later than the day before the first absentee ballots requested by military and overseas voters are distributed. That begins Friday, so the withdrawal deadline would be late Thursday. State Republican leaders could then pick a replacement.
Trump has frequently voiced his support for Robinson, who has been considered a rising star in his party, well-known for his fiery speeches and evocative rhetoric. Ahead of the March primary, Trump at a rally in Greensboro called Robinson 鈥淢artin Luther King on steroids鈥� for his speaking ability.
Trump鈥檚 campaign appears to be distancing itself from Robinson in the wake of the report. In a statement to the AP, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the GOP nominee鈥檚 campaign 鈥渋s focused on winning the White House and saving this country,鈥� calling North Carolina 鈥渁 vital part of that plan.鈥�
Leavitt went on to contrast Trump鈥檚 economic record with that of Harris, not mentioning Robinson by name or answering questions as to whether he would appear with Trump at a Saturday campaign rally in Wilmington, or had been invited to do so.
A spokesperson for Harris鈥� campaign, Ammar Moussa, said on X that 鈥淒onald Trump has a Mark Robinson problem鈥� and reposted a photo of the two together.
The North Carolina Republican Party defended Robinson in a statement on X, saying that despite his denial of CNN's report, it wouldn't 鈥渟top the Left from trying to demonize him via personal attacks.鈥� The party referred to economic and immigration policies as the predominant election issues North Carolinians will care more about instead.
鈥淭he Left needs this election to be a personality contest, not a policy contest because if voters focused on policy, Republicans win on Election Day," the party said.
Scott Lassiter, a Republican state Senate candidate in a Raleigh-area swing district, did call on Robinson to 鈥渟uspend his campaign to allow a quality candidate to finish this race.鈥�
Ed Broyhill, a North Carolina member of the Republican National Committee, said he spoke to Robinson Thursday afternoon and still supports him as the nominee. In an interview, Broyhill suggested the online details may have been fabricated.
鈥淚t seems like a dirty trick to me,鈥� Broyhill said.
On Capitol Hill, U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chair of the House GOP鈥檚 campaign committee, told reporters the report鈥檚 findings were 鈥渃oncerning.鈥� Robinson, he said, has some reassuring to do in the state.
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. His four-minute speech to the Greensboro City Council defending gun rights and lamenting the 鈥渄emonizing鈥� of police officers went viral 鈥� and led him to a National Rifle Association board position and popularity among conservative voters.
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This story was first published on Sep. 19, 2024. It was updated on Nov. 22, 2024 to correct which of Robinson鈥檚 social media accounts CNN cited in a comparison to language in messages from a pornographic website message board. CNN cited his public Facebook account, not his Twitter account.
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Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard in Chapin, South Carolina, and Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.
Gary D. Robertson, The Associated Press
