Concern is mounting for the gubernatorial race in North Carolina, and the potential effect it could have in the broader presidential election.
The current gubernatorial race is between Democrat Attorney General Josh Stein running and Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. Polling as recent as Sept. 18 shows Stein consistently ahead of Robinson. But another problem is beginning to surface for the Republican candidate.
On Thursday, a CNN KFile investigation was released that puts a rather unflattering light on Robinson – to put it lightly. This investigation says that Robinson “made a series of inflammatory comments on a pornography website’s message board more than a decade ago.”
Among these messages, Robinson had supposedly written comments disparaging former President Barack Obama and regularly discussed salacious and lewd topics.
Other quotable comments supposedly made by Robinson include the declaration that he was “a black NAZI” and expressed interest in joining the KKK, although it is difficult to tell if these are serious comments or if they were meant to be a joke.
Still, CNN was able to allegedly establish a link between Robinson and these comments through information provided both on this pornographic site and on his other social media accounts.
Some Republicans had reportedly urged him to exit the race before this information was dropped. Robinson has refused to do so and said that the account does not belong to him.
Other Republicans have since come out of the woodwork condemning the comments, but not extending that condemnation to Robinson as of now.
Sen. Ted Budd said Robinson “needs to prove” that the comments aren’t his, although how one would prove a negative remains a mystery. Rep. Richard Hudson called the report “very concerning,” and said he hopes “that the lieutenant governor can reassure the people of North Carolina that the allegations aren’t true.”
The North Carolina Republican Party has stood by Robinson. The party cited his denial of the allegations and claimed that the Democrats wanted to create “a personality contest, not a policy contest” to try and win the race.
But the problem extends further outward to the Trump campaign. In March, Trump gave Robinson his endorsement for the North Carolina primary and referred to the lieutenant governor as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
Any contact since then has not been determined, but some reporting suggested that the Trump campaign was among the few urging Robinson to back out of the race. Trump campaign adviser Brian Hughes said that was “absolutely inaccurate.”
Still, Trump critics have been bashing his campaign for the previous endorsement. The Harris campaign has posted multiple images of Trump posing with Robinson.
Former Republican Adam Kinzinger called the news “devastating” for Trump saying it could lead “disheartened” North Carolina Republicans to “either not show up or…vote for Kamala.” It should be noted that Kinzinger has endorsed Harris.
The Trump campaign has said that it is “focused on winning the White House and saving this country” in a statement published after the allegations were posted.