Mark Robinson, the controversial Republican candidate for governor of North Carolina, is denying a report published Thursday alleging that he called himself a “Black Nazi” and praised slavery in comments on a porn site more than a decade ago.
CNN said Robinson, who is the state’s sitting lieutenant governor, also described himself as a “perv” in remarks that the network says it tied to him by matching biographical details on the posts made between 2008 and 2012.
He also described fantasies about transgender sex and peeping on women in showers, CNN said.
Robinson denied the story minutes before it was even published, calling it “salacious trash” and “outrageous lies coming from my opponent’s dishonest campaign.”
He insisted he wouldn’t drop out of the race.
Robinson, who is trailing Democratic attorney general Josh Stein in polls of the gubernatorial race, was already running several points behind Trump, who is locked in a neck-and-neck race with Vice President Kamala Harris, in polls of the state.
The Tarheel State has narrowly voted for Trump twice and has been fairly reliably Republican in recent decades. It’s a must-win state for the MAGA leader in his fight to recapture the White House.
But both presidential campaigns say demographic changes and Harris’ appeal as the potential first Black woman president have put it in play this year.
Some analysts suggest Robinson’s poor standing could drag Trump to defeat in the state.
The scandal is just the latest in a string of ugly revelations about Robinson, who former President Trump has praised as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
In a 2019 Facebook post, Robinson said abortion was akin to a woman “killing the child because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down.” In a 2021 speech in a church, he used the word “filth” when discussing gay and transgender people.
Robinson calls himself a born-again Christian and would make history as the state’s first Black governor if elected. But he has also been accused of regularly visiting adult video viewing booths during a period in which he has admitted relapses in his faith.
