Robinson supporters say CNN report won’t affect how they vote

In his first public appearance since his campaign was rocked by national controversy, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson told supporters his plan was to “focus on the issues that you are concerned with while everybody else wants to focus on the garbage and the trash.”

Robinson stopped by the Fayetteville Motor Speedway on Saturday night, as the Carlton Lamm Memorial Race was getting underway, to meet with supporters. Before the race began, Robinson was given a microphone to address the crowd that had come to see the racing, and him, and offer a prayer.

The embattled Republican nominee did not specifically mention the scandal over a series of graphic, offensive and racist comments he allegedly made on a pornography website about a decade ago, according to a CNN report published Thursday, but alluded to it as “the garbage” and “trash” that he said was meant to “besmirch people.”

The CNN report included screenshots of Robinson allegedly calling himself a “Black Nazi” on the porn site’s message board and saying “slavery is not bad.” He also allegedly described spying on women in gym showers as a 14-year-old, and used a racial slur against the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., in addition to other lewd comments. On Friday, CNN reported that the posts had been removed from the website.

Robinson has denied making the comments and called the allegations “salacious tabloid lies.”

Addressing the crowd in the grandstand Saturday, Robinson said he was honored to be there, and said they were the reason he was running for governor.

“We’re not running for governor to be a big shot, we’re not running for governor to have a title, to be driven and chauffeured around, we are running for governor to work for the people of North Carolina, because we are the people of North Carolina,” Robinson said.

Robinson supporters share why they’re backing him

Even as Republicans continue to navigate the fallout and uproar over the online posts Robinson allegedly made, there was scant evidence at the speedway, or hours earlier at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Wilmington, that supporters of the lieutenant governor were worried or concerned about the latest in a long line of controversies over Robinson’s rhetoric and past comments.

Susan Daniel, 50, said she supports Robinson because she feels he pays attention to the needs of small-town North Carolinians, unlike other politicians who she said are too focused on Raleigh.

“Wake County, Raleigh, Durham, Cary, they are who they are, but come on down to Cumberland County, Robeson County, Bladen, Hoke, come on down this way and see how it is, it’s a little bit different,” the Fayetteville native told The News & Observer.

Daniel added that there are pressing issues where smaller, more rural communities need assistance, including roads that are in bad shape, and police departments and schools that need help.

Asked about the allegations in the CNN story, Daniel said that “people grow, people live, they learn.”

“We make mistakes, you learn from those mistakes, and you move forward,” she said. “You have to forgive, you have to ask the good Lord to forgive you, and have faith in that, and you move forward.”

“Is any of that going to affect my vote?” she continued. “Absolutely not.”

Earlier in the day, Trump and Robinson supporters attending the former president’s rally just outside Wilmington International Airport told The N&O that they were skeptical of the CNN report, and remained committed to voting for Robinson in November.

Rev. Dante Murphy, a Wilmington-area pastor who wore a Robinson T-shirt to the rally, said he believed Robinson should stay in the race, and said it was important to “separate the policy from the person.”

“If we were to dig deep enough, we could find something on everybody that would bring into question their job, but I think Mark Robinson has proven his policy is consistent with what North Carolina needs,” Murphy, 54, said.

Murphy also echoed concerns that have proliferated on social media among Robinson supporters, that the posts on the porn website may not be real, saying, “in this day and time, with technology being what it is, you have to give Mark Robinson the benefit of the doubt.”

Robinson was notably absent from Trump’s rally, even though other Republican candidates and elected officials including U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop, who is running for state attorney general, and U.S. Sen. Ted Budd were invited and spoke before Trump arrived and took to the stage.

Trump also praised several North Carolina Republicans during his remarks, but did not mention Robinson at all during his hourlong remarks, despite having embraced Robinson’s candidacy and endorsing him earlier this year, calling him “Martin Luther King on steroids.”

Murphy said he thought Trump was “doing the right thing by not saying anything because at the end of the day, it’s out there, you’ve got to deal with it.”

Donovan Burke, a 58-year-old rally-goer from Supply, said of the story: “I don’t put a whole lot of stock in it, especially coming from CNN,” adding that it hadn’t changed his mind about voting for Robinson.

“I’ve followed his policies, and that’s what my main concern is, his policies, and I think he’ll be good for North Carolina,” Burke said.

Republicans call on Robinson to prove he didn’t make comments

Even though Robinson has denied being behind the posts, many high-profile Republicans have said in the ensuing days that he needs to do more to prove that to voters, and take action if the story is actually false.

Appearing on Meet the Press on Sunday morning, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said that Robinson risked becoming a “political zombie” if he didn’t present a credible defense to the allegations.

“He deserves a chance to defend himself, Mark Robinson,” Graham said. “The charges are beyond unnerving. If they’re true, he’s unfit to serve for office. If they’re not true, he has the best lawsuit in the history of the country for libel.”

On Friday, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis made a similar argument, writing on X that that if the report is false, Robinson needs to “take immediate legal action,” but added that if it is true, “he owes it to President Trump and every Republican to take accountability for his actions and put the future of NC & our party before himself.”

U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, said on Thursday he hoped Robinson could “reassure North Carolinians that each of these specific allegations are not true,” while Budd called the comments reported by CNN “disgusting” and said in a statement Thursday that while Robinson said they weren’t made by him, “he needs to prove that to the voters.”

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