Opinion: NC GOP doubles down on Robinson. Will voters?

The bar for a Mark Robinson scandal was high.
North Carolinians like me have known about some of his antics for a while – now, the rest of the country is catching up.
The Republican lieutenant governor and gubernatorial nominee was already a known Holocaust denier. He has referred to LGBTQ+ people as “filth.” He is vehemently anti-abortion, despite admitting to paying for one 30 years ago.
Yet recent revelations about Robinson’s online presence could sink his political aspirations once and for all. It could even affect former President Donald Trump’s chances of winning North Carolina.
According to a recent CNN investigation, Robinson reportedly referred to himself as a “black NAZI” and a “perv.” fantasized about transgender pornography and admitted to peeping in a women’s locker room when he was 14 years old. He posted about all of this and more on Nude Africa, a pornographic forum.
“Slavery is not bad. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it (slavery) back. I would certainly buy a few,” a user named minisoldr wrote in 2010.
CNN connected the username to Robinson by comparing demographic information and phrases used on both Nude Africa and Robinson’s personal Facebook page.
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Robinson has denied all of this. He said at an event Monday that he was considering “everything up to legal counsel” to take action against CNN.
According to Politico, Robinson’s email address was also reportedly used for an Ashley Madison account, a website for married people seeking affairs. An adviser confirmed the email belonged to the lieutenant governor.
It seems Robinson is actually seeing repercussions in his gubernatorial campaign. Following the story, Elections Daily shifted its North Carolina gubernatorial race prediction from “leans Democratic” to “safe Democratic.” He was already polling behind the Democratic nominee, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein.
In addition to changing the race, four members of Robinson’s campaign staff resigned. He has since hired Jack Burkman, a Republican lobbyist and conspiracy theorist who was convicted of felony telecom fraud in 2022, to lead the rest of his campaign.
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In the meantime, Democrats are trying to remind voters of the ties between Robinson and Trump, who once called the lieutenant governor “Martin Luther King on steroids.” This could have a huge effect on the presidential race in North Carolina.
ABC News’ 538 puts Trump ahead by 0.6% − a margin that could easily change before the election.
On the other hand, North Carolina has a history of ticket-splitting. The state has gone for Trump the last two elections while managing to elect Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. It’s entirely possible that this pattern repeats itself.
If the North Carolina Republican Party had any self-respect, its leaders would denounce Robinson. The party could even ask him to step down from his current office. Instead, they doubled down.
“Mark Robinson has categorically denied the allegations made by CNN but that won’t stop the Left from trying to demonize him via personal attacks,” the party said in a post to X.
Privately, Republicans reportedly called on Robinson to withdraw from the race prior to the deadline to remove his name from the ballot. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has also publicly weighed in.
“If the reporting on Mark Robinson is a total media fabrication, he needs to take immediate legal action,” Tillis said on X Friday night. “If the reporting 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.”
I hate to say it, but Tillis is right. Robinson needs to consider what is best for the state – and whether that includes him.
While I doubt he’ll actually drop out of the race or resign from the lieutenant governorship, it would be the right thing to do.
If that’s the case, all we can do is hope that North Carolina’s voters believe the news – and vote accordingly in November.
Follow USA TODAY elections columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter: @sara__pequeno