North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican, said Thursday he is not withdrawing from the gubernatorial race after there were calls for him to step down following a CNN report that he made inflammatory comments on a pornography website between 2008 and 2012, before he entered politics.
"We are staying in this race. We are in it to win it," Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor, said in a video posted on X. "And we know that with your help, we will."
CNN reported Thursday that Robinson referred to himself as a "black NAZI!" and expressed support for reinstating slavery on the pornography website Nude Africa. The comments were allegedly made under a username that CNN said it was able to identify as Robinson's by "matching a litany of biographical details and a shared email address between the two."
The Carolina Journal reported Thursday that sources said Robinson was under pressure from staff and members of Donald Trump's presidential campaign to withdraw from the race.
Robinson referred to CNN's report as "salacious tabloid trash" in the video and accused his Democrat opponent, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, of leaking the story to CNN.
"The news media is at it again," Robinson said. "My opponent is at it again. You all have seen the half-truths and outright lies of Josh Stein on these ads over and over again, and now a story leaked by him to CNN is appearing now. Let me reassure you, the things that you will see in that story — those are not the words of Mark Robinson.
"You know my words. You know my character. And you know I have been completely transparent in this race and before. Folks, this race right now, our opponents are desperate to shift the focus here from the substantive issues and focus on what you are concerned with to salacious tabloid trash. We cannot allow that to happen."
Robinson then compared his situation to that of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who faced allegations of sexual harassment during his Senate confirmation hearings in 1991.
"Folks, we've seen this type of stuff in the past, as well." Robinson said. "Clarence Thomas famously once said he was the victim of a high-tech lynching. Well, it looks like Mark Robinson is, too, by a man who refuses to stand on stage and debate me about the real issues that face you. Instead, they want to focus on salacious tabloid lies. We're not going to let them do that."
Newsmax reached out to CNN and Stein's campaign for comment.
North Carolina is seen as a tight race for president between Trump and Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris, with the FiveThirtyEight polling average showing them virtually tied.
But the case is different in the race to replace Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat who is term-limited from seeking reelection. Stein has led Robinson consistently, although the Republican has cut into his opponent's lead in the past few weeks.
Stein was up by as many as 14 percentage points (51%-37%) in a WRAL-TV poll released Sept. 7. But in polls by Emerson College/The Hill and Victory Insights released Wednesday, Stein's lead was down to 8 points (48%-40%) and 5 points (47%-42%), respectively.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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