On Mark Robinson

The Republican gubernatorial nominee in North Carolina, Mark Robinson, is reportedly in trouble:

Mark Robinson, the controversial and socially conservative Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina, made a series of inflammatory comments on a pornography website’s message board more than a decade ago, in which he referred to himself as a “black NAZI!” and expressed support for reinstating slavery, a CNN KFile investigation found.

Despite a recent history of anti-transgender rhetoric, Robinson said he enjoyed watching transgender pornography, a review of archived messages found in which he also referred to himself as a “perv.”

The comments, which Robinson denies making, predate his entry into politics and current stint as North Carolina’s lieutenant governor. They were made under a username that CNN was able to identify as Robinson by matching a litany of biographical details and a shared email address between the two.

Many of Robinson’s comments were gratuitously sexual and lewd in nature. They were made between 2008 and 2012 on “Nude Africa,” a pornographic website that includes a message board. The comments were made under the username minisoldr, a moniker Robinson used frequently online.

Robinson listed his full name on his profile for Nude Africa, as well as an email address he used on numerous websites across the internet for decades.

Robinson became known after a 2018 town hall speech on gun rights. From there he went on to run for the Lieutenant Governor’s office, which he won in the 2020, and this cycle became the Republican nominee for Governor, which he likely won’t win:

Robinson hasn’t led in polling since spring. North Carolina is considered a battleground state where Trump and Harris are virtually tied.

Some Republicans are torn as to whether or not Robinson is a good candidate, an argument that seems irrelevant to me after a candidate has secured the votes to clinch a nomination. Concerning scandalous stories, I tend to not give the benefit of the doubt first to the media regime or the political party that is only situationally averse to pornography. If Robinson said the stuff of which he’s accused and ran knowing it was all easily found in his background, then he’s a reckless moron. That said, whether or not Robinson said what he’s alleged to have said (he addresses it on video here), it’s still more important to secure North Carolina’s electoral votes than anything else.

When it comes to demanding that candidates withdraw for bad behavior the only litmus test I enforce is the Did-They-Drive-a-Woman-Into-a-Pond test. When applied, that test concludes that a candidate can kill a woman and still win elections, keep their seat for decades, and be lionized upon death.

Democrats aren’t using this scandal to finish off Robinson’s chances, that appears already done, per polling. They’re dong this to hurt Trump in the state — which is why the only people who can make Robinson step aside are North Carolina voters. The only people who should fight over this are North Carolina voters. It’s goofy and self-serving for national Republicans to wage a war for what appears to be a losing candidate, scandal or not, at the expense of the top-of-the-ticket.

We have a former president and potential next president who was shot in the head and almost shot at a second time while Democrats dragged their feet on providing adequate protection. We have Democrats employing communist Chinese spies. The DNC may have colluded with Iranian hackers against a former president. It seems there are many things that demand greater attention than this — but if necessary, the fastest way for Robinson to make Democrats OK with it is to publish it in a kids’s book and stick it in school libraries.

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