An email address belonging to North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson was registered on Ashley Madison, a website designed for married people seeking an affair.
An adviser to Robinson, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak freely, confirmed to POLITICO that the email address in question belongs to Robinson. A spokesperson for Robinson said he had not created an account on Ashley Madison.
“Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson denies ever creating or using an account on this website,” said Mike Lonergan, Robinson’s communications director.
Robinson’s campaign also pointed to a website stating that the email address in question had been hacked in multiple data breaches.
The discovery of Robinson’s personal email address on Ashley Madison came as Republicans in North Carolina cringed Thursday after CNN uncovered old messages Robinson allegedly posted to online pornography forums — and as his chances of winning the gubernatorial race appear increasingly grim. Robinson recorded an interview with CNN set to air Thursday night in which he denied several allegations against him for other online activities, a person with knowledge of the situation said.
On Thursday afternoon, CNN reported that Robinson, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, had once posted comments on a porn website called “Nude Africa,” listing on the website his full name and an email address he had used for years — the same address POLITICO discovered was registered to Ashley Madison.
According to CNN, Robinson wrote that he became sexually aroused by memories of “peeping” on women in public showers as a teenager, that he had a penchant for “tranny on girl porn,” that “slavery is not evil” and that he called himself a “black Nazi!” He told CNN he denied posting the messages.
Robinson had already predicted the nature of the allegations CNN would highlight, calling them “salacious tabloid trash” in a video his campaign released Thursday in which he insisted he was staying in the race and issued a blanket denial of the allegations against him. The campaign released the video as political operatives in North Carolina and across the country were in an uproar over the impending CNN story.
“Let me reassure you, the things that you’re going to see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson,” he said in the video, blaming his opponent, Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, for leaking information against him to CNN. “Folks, in this race right now, our opponents are desperate to shift the focus away from the substantive issues and focus on what you care about and onto salacious tabloid garbage.”
Following the CNN report, at least one prominent elected Republican in North Carolina has already spoken out, with Rep. Richard Hudson, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, telling reporters on Thursday that “the allegations are deeply troubling.”
“He says they’re not true,” Hudson said. “I think he needs to assure the people of the state with a little more detail that they’re not true.”
In a statement, Stein’s campaign said, “The people of North Carolina already know that Mark Robinson is totally unfit to be governor” and that Stein “remains focused on winning this campaign so that together we can build a safer and stronger North Carolina for everyone.”
Robinson, who became a well-known conservative firebrand as lieutenant governor and faced scrutiny for comments about women, LGBTQ+ people, Jews and others, was already trailing in the polls.
While it’s unclear whether Robinson’s poor performance will negatively impact Trump’s standing there, the former president is still locked in a neck-and-neck race with Kamala Harris in the state, even as Robinson’s chances of success grow.
Trump won North Carolina in the last two presidential elections, but in 2020 by just over 1 point. Democrat Roy Cooper also won the governorship both times.
An internal poll conducted for Trump’s campaign showed Robinson trailing Stein by 14 percentage points, while Trump led Harris by 3 points in North Carolina, a person with knowledge of the poll said. Public polls also have shown Robinson consistently trailing Stein, in some cases by as much as 14 points.
Trump campaign spokespeople declined to comment on the internal poll’s findings.
Two people familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, told POLITICO that the Trump campaign did not pressure Robinson to withdraw from the race or skip Trump’s rallies in the state, despite a news report stating otherwise.
Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Saturday. Robinson last appeared with Trump when he took the stage at a rally in Asheboro, North Carolina, on August 21, when Trump called the local sheriff’s department. Trump did not ask Robinson to come on stage.
Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.
