North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson says he will not step aside as the Republican nominee for the Tar Heel State’s governor despite a new report from CNN which revealed a series of comments on a pornographic website’s message board which appear to show him referring to himself as a “black NAZI” and saying that “slavery is not bad” and wishing “they would bring it (slavery) back.”

What You Need To Know

  • North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson says he will not step aside as the Republican nominee for the Tar Heel State’s governor despite a new report from CNN which revealed a series of comments on a pornographic website’s message board

  • In a social media post ahead of the release of the story, the Republican lieutenant governor of the state alleged that the news media and his opponent are "at it again" and denied the report, saying the comments in the story are "not the words of Mark Robinson"

  • CNN reported on posts it says Robinson made on the message board of a pornography website from 2008 to 2012, before he entered politics. On it, Robinson referred to himself as a “black NAZI” and expressed support for reinstating slavery, according to the report

  • Robinson has been known on the campaign trail for his at times inflammatory rhetoric

In a social media post ahead of the release of the story, the Republican lieutenant governor of the state alleged that the news media and his opponent are "at it again" and denied the report, saying the comments in the story are "not the words of Mark Robinson."

"You know my words, you know my character, and you know that I have been completely transparent in this race and before," Robinson said, before invoking Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' words about being the victim of a "high tech lynching."

"We are staying in this race," Robinson said. "We are in it to win it."

CNN reported on posts it says Robinson made on the message board of a pornography website from 2008 to 2012, before he entered politics. On it, Robinson referred to himself as a “black NAZI” and expressed support for reinstating slavery, according to the report.

Despite his anti-transgender political stands today, he also said he enjoyed watching transgender pornography and admitted to secretly “peeping” women in public gym showers at 14 years old, CNN reported. He also maligned civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., writing “Get that f***ing commie b****** off the National Mall!,” after the dedication of the memorial to King in Washington, according to CNN.

CNN said it found numerous biographical similarities between the online account and Robinson. And the account used Robinson’s full name and an email address the gubernatorial candidate is known to have used.

Robinson denied the reporting separately to CNN. Spectrum News has not independently verified the claims.

Reports began emerging Thursday morning that the report on Robinson could be damaging and potentially even lead to calls for him to step aside from the North Carolina gubernatorial election, one of the most closely watched races in the country. 

North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd, a fellow Republican, called the allegations in the report "disgusting" in a statement Thursday.

"Mark Robinson says they are not from him," Budd said. "He needs to prove that to the voters."

Another North Carolina Republican lawmaker, Rep. Richard Hudson, said it's on Robinson to "assure" the people of the state that his comments are not true.

"The allegations are very concerning," Hudson told reporters. "He says they're not true. I think he needs to assure the people of the state with a little more detail that they aren't true."

North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry told reporters he read the story and it's "not good."

North Carolina Rep. Jeff Jackson, a Democrat running for state attorney general in November, said Robinson "has no business serving in any elected capacity whatsoever."

"I'd like to hear from all the Republicans in North Carolina where they stand on this, because it really should not be a difficult question," Jackson told reporters, urging members of the GOP to "read what he wrote" and accusing Robinson of "lying by denying it."

Other statewide Republicans weighed in, though many have not commented on the report. Republican state Sen. Scott Lassiter, who represents a district in the Raleigh area, urged Robinson to "suspend his campaign to allow a quality candidate to finish this race," while North Carolina RNC member Ed Broyhill said the story "seems like a dirty trick to me."

Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign sought to quickly tie the allegations to Donald Trump, sharing a video of the former president praising Robinson as "better than Martin Luther King." At the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump's running mate, ignored questions from reporters about the Robinson report.

"Donald Trump has a Mark Robinson problem," Harris campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa wrote on social media, alongside a photo of Trump and Robinson together.

Trump's campaign appeared to try and distance the former president from the report, with a spokesperson responding to the news with a statement that singularly focused on their efforts to win the state, without mentioning Robinson by name.

"President Trump’s campaign is focused on winning the White House and saving this country. North Carolina is a vital part of that plan," said Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, lobbing attacks at Harris by attempting to contrast the two candidates' records on familiar but unrelated issues like the border and inflation. "We will not take our eye off the ball."

Sabato's Crystal Ball at UVA Center for Politics, a popular election prognosticator, quickly moved the race from "Leans Democratic" to "Likely Democratic" following the release of the story. Polls have shown the race between Harris and Trump tight in North Carolina, but have shown Robinson trailing Democratic opponent Josh Stein, the state's attorney general, by a large margin.

Robinson has been known on the campaign trail for his at times inflammatory rhetoric, including saying "some folks need killing" in a speech at a church about "evil" people threatening American Christianity, calling LGBTQ+ people "filth" and saying abortion is "about killing the child because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down."