Email address belonging to Mark Robinson found on Ashley Madison
An email address belonging to North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson was registered on Ashley Madison, a website designed for married people seeking affairs.
An adviser to Robinson, granted anonymity to speak freely, confirmed to POLITICO that the email address in question belongs to Robinson. A spokesperson for Robinson said he had not made an account on Ashley Madison.
“Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson denies that he ever created or used an account on this website,” said Mike Lonergan, Robinson’s communications director
Robinson’s campaign also pointed to a website showing the email address in question has been compromised in multiple data breaches.
The discovery of Robinson’s personal email address on Ashley Madison came as Republicans in North Carolina on Thursday cringed after CNN uncovered old posts purportedly made by Robinson on online pornographic forums — and as his chances of winning the governor’s race appear increasingly grim. Robinson recorded an interview with CNN set to air Thursday evening, denying various allegations against him of other online activities, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
On Thursday afternoon, CNN reported that Robinson, whom former President Donald Trump endorsed, had once posted comments on a porn website called “Nude Africa,” listing on the website his full name and an email address he was known to use for years — the same one that POLITICO found was registered on Ashley Madison.
Robinson, according to CNN, wrote about finding sexual arousal from recalling memories of “peeping” on women in public showers as a teenager, his affinity for “tranny on girl porn,” that “slavery is not bad” and that he referred to himself as a “black Nazi!” He told CNN he denied making the posts.
Robinson had already foreshadowed the nature of the allegations CNN would highlight, calling them “salacious tabloid trash” in a video his campaign released Thursday insisting he is remaining in the race and issuing a blanket denial of allegations being brought against him. The campaign published the video as political operatives in North Carolina and around the country were in a frenzy over the forthcoming CNN story.
“Let me reassure you, the things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson,” he said in the video, blaming his opponent, Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, for leaking information against him to CNN. “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.”
By Thursday night, prominent elected Republicans in North Carolina were speaking out against Robinson.
“The comments reported in the article are disgusting,” Sen. Ted Budd said in a statement after the CNN article posted. “Mark Robinson says they are not from him. He needs to prove that to the voters."
And Rep. Richard Hudson, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee told reporters on Thursday that “the allegations are very concerning.”
“He says they're not true,” Hudson said. “I think he needs to assure the people of the state with a little more detail that they aren't true.”
In a statement, Stein’s campaign said “North Carolinians already know Mark Robinson is completely unfit to be governor,” and that Stein “remains focused on winning this campaign so that together we can build a safer, stronger North Carolina for everyone.”
Robinson, who as lieutenant governor became a well-known conservative firebrand and faced scrutiny for remarks about women, LGBTQ+ people, Jews and others, was already lagging in the polls.
While it’s unclear whether Robinson’s poor performance is having any negative effect on Trump’s position there, the former president remains locked into a close race with Kamala Harris in the state, even as Robinson appears increasingly out of the running.
Trump won North Carolina in both the last two presidential elections — though by just over 1 point in 2020 — even as Democrat Roy Cooper won the governor’s office both times.
An internal poll conducted for Trump’s campaign found Robinson running 14 percentage points behind Stein, while Trump was leading Harris by 3 points in North Carolina, according to a person with knowledge of the poll. Public polling has also shown Robinson consistently behind Stein, in some cases by as much as 14 points.
Spokespeople for Trump’s campaign declined to comment on the reported findings of the internal poll.
Two people familiar with the situation, granted anonymity to speak about the sensitive issue, told POLITICO the Trump campaign has not pressured Robinson to drop out of the race or to skip Trump’s rallies in the state, despite a news report saying otherwise.
Trump is scheduled to hold a rally Saturday in Wilmington, North Carolina. Robinson last appeared with Trump when he made his way on stage during an Aug. 21 rally in Asheboro, North Carolina when Trump called up local sheriffs. Trump had not asked Robinson to come on stage.
Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.
