Republican Group Erases Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson from Website Amid Controversy
The Republican organization responsible for electing state legislative candidates has quietly removed all mentions of Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson from its website. This action follows a CNN report that revealed offensive comments Robinson posted on an internet porn forum, including calling himself a “Black Nazi.”
Robinson is currently the Republican candidate for North Carolina governor, facing Democratic candidate and state Attorney General Josh Stein in the upcoming election.
Before the CNN report on September 20, Robinson was listed as the chairman of the Right Leadership Network, an initiative focused on recruiting and training candidates for state legislature races. This group operates under the umbrella of the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC). His name and photograph have since been removed from the Right Leadership Network’s website.
The RSLC has not commented on why Robinson was removed, whether he remains affiliated with the organization, or whether they condemn his remarks.
According to the CNN report, Robinson’s offensive comments were posted on the online forum “Nude Africa” between 2008 and 2012. The comments included slurs against Black people, Jews, and the LGBTQ community and detailed incidents of spying on women in locker rooms.
This development emerged shortly after the Right Leadership Network announced its “spotlight candidates” for 2024, who will receive digital campaign support from the RSLC. The group’s chairs played a key role in selecting these candidates, who were highlighted for their diversity and community values, according to a press release.
Two of the spotlight candidates hail from North Carolina: Stacie McGinn, running for state senate in district 42, and Ashlee Adams, running for state senate in district 18. Neither candidate has responded to questions about their support for Robinson’s campaign or their reaction to the CNN report.
This is not Robinson’s first controversy. On September 16, HuffPost unearthed a 2022 video in which Robinson suggested that young women do not need access to birth control, implying they should instead “get this under control” while gesturing towards his crotch.
Robinson made a similar statement in 2019: “Abortion in this country is not about protecting the lives of mothers,” he said. “It is about killing the child because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down.”
Robinson has supported both a six-week abortion ban and a total abortion ban. Despite these stances, he has admitted to paying for his wife’s abortion in 1989. In a recent campaign ad, Robinson stated he would not seek stricter laws beyond North Carolina’s current 12-week abortion ban, which includes exceptions for rape and incest. However, he later told a town hall audience that he continues to support a total ban.
In 2021, Robinson described gay and transgender people as “filth.” Contradictorily, he wrote on “Nude Africa” that he enjoys pornography featuring transgender performers.
Recent polling from Emerson College in September shows Stein leading Robinson by eight percentage points.
—
Read More Kitchen Table News
