North Carolina Lieutenant Governor and current Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson’s alleged adult website shenanigans are not what we need right now. It was already bad enough that we would likely lose this North Carolina gubernatorial race, as Robinson’s Democratic opponent, Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, has held a significant lead over him, an average of nearly 10 points. Last Thursday, Robinson’s alleged online proclivities led to a Sunday Night Massacre, where most of his top campaign staff resigned. With Robinson likely to go down in flames, the attention now turns to how Democrats will use this fiasco against former President Donald Trump.
North Carolina is a tight state politically. It’s nearly split down the middle on party lines, and you have the college kids in the Research Triangle to account for, especially if Trump is on the ticket. Most voters here don’t break for anyone until the election's final weeks. In 2016 and 2020, Trump closed it out here, albeit by only one-to-three points.
Trump called Robinson Martin Luther King Jr. on steroids at one point. Someone mentioned how it wouldn’t be shocking to see many ads cut by Democrats flooding the state now that this scandal has erupted. To recap, here’s the circus that’s engulfed Mr. Robinson (via The Guardian):
North Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, Mark Robinson, referred to himself as a “black NAZI!” on a pornography website’s message board, according to a new CNN report about the current lieutenant governor who has already been marked by scandal and controversial comments.
According to CNN’s reporting, Robinson referred to himself as a “perv” in archived messages because he “enjoyed watching transgender pornography”. The messages were made between 2008 and 2012 on “Nude Africa”, a pornographic website that includes a message board.
He also expressed support for reinstating slavery. “Slavery is not bad. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it [slavery] back. I would certainly buy a few,” he wrote in October 2010.
In March 2012, during the Obama administration, he wrote: “I’d take Hitler over any of the shit that’s in Washington right now!”
It led to mass resignations from his campaign staff over the weekend (via Politico):
Four top staff members on Mark Robinson’s campaign team have resigned from their roles, the campaign announced Sunday, three days after the embattled Republican candidate for North Carolina governor denied making years-old salacious posts on a pornographic website.
Conrad Pogorzelski III, Robinson’s general consultant and senior adviser; campaign manager Chris Rodriguez; finance director Heather Whillier; and deputy campaign manager Jason Rizk all stepped down just weeks before the election, according to a press release from Robinson’s campaign
A black Republican calling himself a Nazi who wants to own slaves while watching transgender pornography is going to make headlines. Robinson has denied the claims, vowing to push on, but this story was dropped hours before the candidate withdrawal deadline in North Carolina. Democrats may be brimming with heinous ideas on public policy and backed by hordes of weirdos, but they know how to win. They likely sat on this story for weeks, months maybe, dropping an atomic bomb in a state that, if Kamala can take it from Trump, could make for a very stressful election night. It’s no secret that Harris’ camp thinks North Carolina is winnable.
At a recent stop in Wilmington, North Carolina, Trump did not mention Robinson at all. Yet, given the state's home to scores of military families, maybe Harris’ outrageous claim that there are no combat troops deployed in any active war zone will prevent North Carolina from falling away.
I’m not hitting the panic button yet, but this story was not what we needed right now.