Republicans Grapple with Disgraced Candidate Mark Robinson’s Dark Past

The public expressions of “concern” among some Republicans can’t be separated from the previous praise many of them heaped on Robinson, even as his record of demonizing women, and making antisemitic and homophobic statements were well known.

We began this follow up to the Mark Robinson “I’m a black NAZI”-porn-site story by thinking we’d quote some of the comments he allegedly posted on the site’s message board which CNN said were too graphic to publish.

Then we read them. 

All we can say is that in addition to praising slavery and admitting to secretly watching women shower when he was a teenager, the username that CNN tied to Robinson in its investigation posted very detailed stories, whether real or imagined, about having an affair with his wife’s sister. He also specified several of his fetishes that we’re unsure how to write about here.

“The p**s thing is more common than most people think and many want to admit,” he said of one of his favorites. 

Robinson denied the allegations and, without evidence, accused his Democratic opponent, Josh Stein, of using AI to generate the messages and of leaking them to the press, but the report sparked new chaos among many Republicans who’ve grown increasingly worried about Robinson’s chances of winning.

The Carolina Journal reported that Robinson faced pressure from party leaders to withdraw from the race. He did not withdraw, and with the deadline to do so expiring at midnight Friday, now he cannot. 

But the fallout of the Robinson story has grown larger than sexually explicit posts on a sexually explicit website years before he entered the public sphere.

The anonymous second-guessing and public expressions of “concern” among state party members can’t be separated from the previous acceptance and celebration many Republicans heaped on Robinson during his rapid rise in the party, even as his record of demonizing women, and making antisemitic and homophobic statements were well known.

‘Abhorrent and indefensible’

Despite the graphic nature of Robinson’s alleged posts, the North Carolina Republican Party issued a statement on Thursday backing Robinson.

“Mark Robinson has categorically denied the allegations made by CNN but that won’t stop the Left from trying to demonize him via personal attacks,” the Party wrote.

Some Republican candidates, however, expressed concern about the accusations, and said it was on Robinson to reassure the voters.

“The allegations regarding Mark Robinson are completely abhorrent and indefensible,” NC Rep. Erin Paré wrote on X, formerly Twitter, after the story broke. Paré, the only Republican representing parts of Wake County, is in a tight re-election race with Democrat Safiyah Jackson.

“Mark has told the public these allegations are false and it is his responsibility to prove that to North Carolina voters,” Paré wrote.

Scott Lassiter, a Republican candidate for the North Carolina Senate, said in a statement to reporters on Thursday that Robinson should suspend his campaign.

“If the recent allegations against Robinson are true, combined with his previous public rhetoric, I believe it’s time for him to step aside,” Lassiter wrote. “North Carolinians deserve a viable choice in this election.”

US Rep. Richard Hudson told reporters in Washington on Thursday that” the allegations were very concerning.”

But their previous assessments of Robinson — whose record of public controversial remarks predates the CNN report by years — were far more glowing.

‘A great man’

Soon after reports resurfaced of Robinson calling LGBTQ people “maggots” this spring, Hudson told CNN that Robinson was “an articulate spokesman” and “an exciting candidate.”

In a Facebook post in 2021, Paré wrote that Robinson was “a great man, powerful speaker and outstanding person.” By then it was already known that Robinson had suggested the Holocaust had been exaggerated. A month after Paré’s praise, Robinson said that transgender people were “demonic and … full of the spirit of antichrist.”

(Robinson wrote on the porn site that “I like watching tra*ny on girl porn! That’s [expletive] hot!” CNN reported.”)

And at an event this year for Michele Morrow, the Republican candidate to lead public schools who has called for the execution of several Democrats, Lassiter gave Robinson a big hug as the small crowd cheered. 

‘Some folks need killing’

Robinson won the Republican nomination for governor in March with 65% of the vote, and with the full-throated support of most of the party’s major players, including Donald Trump, US Senator Ted Budd, US Rep. Dan Bishop, NC Speaker of the House Tim Moore, and NC Senate leader Phil Berger. 

At the time of those endorsements, Robinson had already called abortion providers “butchers,” said women should not be able to get an abortion even when their lives were in danger, and mocked the survivors of a school shooting.

None of these statements prevented Republicans from supporting Robinson.

In the months after he won the nomination, Robinson said “some folks need killing” while accusing Democrats of plotting a socialist takeover, pointed to his crotch while telling women to “get his under control,” and said that women should not have sex unless they want to have a baby.

None of those statements prompted Republicans to push Robinson to drop out of the race.

‘This is just the latest example”

Dale Folwell, the current NC Treasurer who lost to Robinson in the Republican primary, has been one of the few Republicans to suggest from the start that Robinson was unfit to be governor. 

He said soon after the election that he would not vote for Robinson. 

Folwell told the News and Observer on Friday that the new allegations were “not a shock to me.”

“It seems like anyone who’s ever come in contact with [him] has been fleeced,” Folwell said. “And this is just the latest example.”

Sen. Thom Tillis, another Republican who has long criticized Robinson, seemed to concede on Thursday that Robinson could not beat Stein. 

“It was a tough day, but we must stay focused on the races we can win,” Tillis wrote on X.

Instead, Tillis suggested, the party should focus on the more competitive races to avoid Robinson, who he did not name, from dragging down all Republicans with him.

“We have to make sure President Trump wins NC and support the outstanding GOP candidates running for key NCGA and judicial races,” he wrote.

Trump, who heaped loads of praise on Robinson in his endorsement and called him “better than Martin Luther King,” has so far not commented on the CNN story. But his advisors were among the Republicans trying to get Robinson to step down, the Carolina Journal reported, and Robinson did not appear at JD Vance’s recent rally in Raleigh.

Trump will give a speech in Wilmington on Saturday. 

Robinson was not invited.