Porn, Racist Posts Are Latest Twist in North Carolina Race
(Bloomberg) -- Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor in North Carolina, vowed to stay in the race shortly before CNN published a report detailing offensive comments allegedly made by Robinson in online porn forums.
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The report links emails and other biographical details between Robinson and the username that posted remarks about transgender sex, watching young women shower and claiming to be a “Black Nazi!”
Shortly before the CNN report was published, Robinson posted a video on X promising to stay in the race.
“They want to focus on salacious tabloid lies,” Robinson said in a recorded video message, referring to his Democratic opponent and the news media. “Let me reassure you, the things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are both targeting North Carolina and its 16 electoral college votes as their race tightens.
Recent polls show Robinson lagging behind Josh Stein, the Democratic attorney general, in the gubernatorial race. Robinson, who is the current lieutenant governor, has attracted national attention for his controversial rhetoric and vocal support for a strict ban on abortion.
While polls have shown voters already rejecting Robinson at a higher rate than other Republican candidates, the presidential race in the state will be so tight that any development could shift the outcome, said Chris Cooper, a political scientist at Western Carolina University.
Depressed Republican turnout or the fallout from unsavory news could be decisive in a close race. That’s potentially bad news for Trump, but it’s hard to tell what it will actually mean for percentage points in November, Cooper said.
Trump, who narrowly won North Carolina in 2016 and 2020, has been forced to play defense in the state as Democrats seek to capitalize on Harris’s momentum since she became the nominee.
Local news outlet The Assembly reported earlier this month that Robinson regularly visited porn shops more than two decades ago. Robinson has since presented himself as a conservative Christian.
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