Trump remains silent on Mark Robinson as Republicans speak out

Former President Donald Trump is remaining silent on a scandal surrounding North Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, despite previously endorsing him and praising him as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”

A CNN report released Thursday said Robinson, the North Carolina lieutenant governor, posted a series of inflammatory messages on the pornographic website “Nude Africa” from 2008 to 2012.

The scandal’s emergence quickly raised concerns that Robinson could hurt Trump’s chances in North Carolina, a swing state that could decide a tight presidential race.

Robinson’s reported comments include a description of himself as a “black Nazi,” a defense of slavery, a fond recollection of “voyeurism” on women as a teenager, and a declaration of his love of transgender pornography despite his anti-transgender remarks as a socially conservative politician.

The scandal intensified on Friday, when The Washington Post reported that Robinson also offered a glowing review of Adolf Hitler’s book My fightcalling the Nazi manifesto a “true revelation.”

Although CNN’s reporting provided ample evidence that appeared to link the lieutenant governor to these positions, Robinson has refused to drop out of the race and claims his alleged remarks are all “outrageous lies.”

The North Carolina Republican Party endorsed Robinson in a statement Thursday, suggesting that the remarks, all posted online more than a decade ago, were fabricated by “the left” as part of an attempt to “smear” him ahead of the election.

“Mark Robinson has categorically denied CNN’s allegations, but that won’t stop the left from trying to demonize him with personal attacks,” the party wrote. “The left can try to smear Mark Robinson all they want… Republicans will win on November 5.”

Other Republicans have recently spoken out on the issue, with some expressing concern that Robinson could hurt Trump and other Republican candidates in the Tar Heel state.

“If the reports about Mark Robinson are a complete fabrication, he needs to take immediate legal action,” North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday.

“If what he says is true, he owes it to President Trump and all Republicans to take responsibility for his actions and put the future of North Carolina and our party before himself,” he added.

Ted Budd, North Carolina’s other senator, told NBC News Thursday that the lieutenant governor’s alleged comments were “disgusting,” adding that “Mark Robinson says they didn’t come from him” but “he has to prove it to the voters.”

More than 24 hours after the scandal broke, Trump has been conspicuously absent from the group of Republicans who have publicly weighed in on Robinson. The former president is scheduled to hold a campaign rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Saturday.

At a rally with Robinson in March, Trump said he was “better than Martin Luther King,” calling the lieutenant governor “Martin Luther King times two.” CNN also reported Thursday that Robinson called King a “fucking communist bastard” and “Martin Lucifer Koon” in his posts about “Nude Africa.”

In response to a request for comment, the Trump campaign stressed Newsweek to a statement from campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, who said Trump was “focused on winning the White House and saving this country” and that “North Carolina is a critical part of that plan” without mentioning Robinson.

A Trump campaign spokesperson also told The Associated Press anonymously on Friday that Robinson was not expected to attend the former president’s rally in Wilmington, although he has previously been a frequent guest at Trump rallies in North Carolina.

Robinson campaign communications director Mike Lonergan blamed the reported posts on Josh Stein, Robinson’s Democratic opponent for governor, in an emailed statement to Newsweek earlier Friday.

“Everything Josh Stein (and) Democrats are saying about Mark Robinson is either a flat-out lie or so twisted out of context that it might as well be,” Lonergan said. “North Carolinians are tired of the lies from career politicians like Josh Stein, and that’s why they’re electing Mark Robinson as their governor on November 5th.”