Former President Donald Trump returns to North Carolina on Saturday, a state he likely must win, at a tumultuous time for Republicans in the state.
Trump will take the stage in Wilmington less than 48 hours after a national scandal rocked the North Carolina gubernatorial race. CNN reported Thursday that Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor, allegedly made several graphic, offensive and racist comments on a pornography website about a decade ago.
Robinson, who has courted controversy during his time as lieutenant governor, denied making the comments, calling the allegations “tasteless tabloid lies.” On Thursday, he vowed to stay in the race amid rumors that he was under pressure from some Republicans to withdraw.
The CNN report included screenshots of Robinson allegedly calling himself a “black Nazi” on the porn site’s message board and saying that “slavery is not bad.” He also allegedly described spying on women in the gym showers as a 14-year-old and used a racial slur against the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
CNN said in its report that Robinson had posted his full name on his profile on the porn site, as well as an email address he had used on other websites. CNN reported Friday that the posts had been removed from the site.
The North Carolina Republican Party said in a statement Thursday night that Robinson “categorically denied CNN’s allegations, but that doesn’t stop the left from demonizing him through personal attacks.”
But leading North Carolina Republicans have said Robinson must do more to prove to voters he was not behind the messages.
U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he hoped Robinson could “convince the people of North Carolina that every one of these specific allegations is not true,” while Sen. Ted Budd called the comments reported by CNN “disgusting” and said Robinson said they were not made by him but “he has to prove that to the voters.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis said Friday night that if the report is false, Robinson “should take immediate legal action,” but added that if it is true, “he owes it to President Trump and every Republican to answer for his actions and put the future of NC and our party above himself.”
The controversy arose after Trump embraced Robinson’s candidacy and endorsed him. He praised his oratorical skills at a rally in Greensboro in March, where he said Robinson, North Carolina’s first black lieutenant governor, was “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
As Democrats look to tie Robinson to Trump and hope his poor poll numbers will make it even harder for Trump to win a state he has won twice before, but by just 1.3% in 2020, multiple news organizations, including the Associated Press, reported Friday that Robinson is not expected to speak or attend Trump’s rally in Wilmington on Saturday.
At a news conference in Greensboro on Friday, Democrats said Robinson was a Republican “standard bearer” and said other GOP candidates “would be nothing more than a rubber stamp on his agenda.”
On Friday, Harris’ campaign also announced that it would launch a six-figure ad campaign attacking Trump over his support for Robinson.
Under the dome
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