Trump’s Pick for NC Gov. Called Himself a ‘Black Nazi,’ MLK ‘Worse Than a Maggot’

19 Sep 2024, 19:57 · Rolling Stone

North Carolina Lieutenant Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican Party’s controversial candidate for governor, is under new scrutiny for several admissions he appears to have made on a message board for the porn site called “Nude Africa” before his political career began. CNN reported on Thursday Robinson referred to himself as a “black NAZI!” on the site, where he also expressed support for reviving slavery, and admitted to enjoying porn featuring trans performers.

Robinson has argued against allowing trans people to use the bathroom of their gender identity, reasoning that women need to be “protected” from men who would take advantage of such facilities. But on Nude Africa, Robinson fondly recalled sneaking as teen into a spot in a public gym where he could watch women shower. “Ahhhhh memories!!!!” he wrote.

As a Republican candidate for governor, Robinson has repeatedly compared abortion to murder; online he shrugged at the news of a celebrity’s abortion, writing, “I don’t care. I just wanna see the sex tape!”

Robinson’s activity on the website began in 2010, long before he was a public figure. On the website, CNN’s KFILE found that Robinson used the handle “minisoldr,” the same username Robinson has adopted across a variety of online platforms including Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest. The user also listed his name as “mark robinson,” used Robinson’s email address, and shared biographical details that aligned with Robinson’s.

In another post on Nude Africa in 2010, Robinson and bragged that if slavery were still legal, he would participate. “Slavery is not bad. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it (slavery) back. I would certainly buy a few,” he wrote.

The next year, Robinson railed online against Martin Luther King Jr., describing him in such vitriolic terms — a “commie bastard,” who was “worse than a maggot,” — that another user questioned if “minisoldr” was a member of the KKK.
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“I’m not in the KKK. They don’t let blacks join. If I was in the KKK I would have called him Martin Lucifer Koon!” he responded.

In 2012, when Barack Obama was president, Robinson wrote that he’d “take Hitler over any of the sh*t that’s in Washington right now!”

He also

Before the news of Robinson’s posts went public, the conservative Carolina Journal was already reporting that individuals inside the Trump campaign were pressuring Robinson to drop out of the race, and advising him that he was no longer welcome at joint campaign events in the critical battleground state. Robinson failed to appear at a previously scheduled event with J.D. Vance in Raleigh on Wednesday, with his office announcing that he tested positive for Covid. On Thursday, amid swirling speculation about a forthcoming story, Robinson canceled his own campaign events in Vance and Warren counties.

Ahead of the story’s publication, Robinson appeared in a video on X flatly denying the report and committing to staying in the race. “Guys, the newsmedia is at it again, 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. Now a story leaked by him to CNN is appearing now,” Robinson said in the video posted Thursday afternoon. “Let me reassure you, the things 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 that I have been completely transparent in this race and before.”

Robinson went on to compare himself to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who was credibly accused of sexual harassment before his elevation to the high court in 1991. “Clarence Thomas famously 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,” he said. “We’re not gonna let them do that. We’re staying in this race, we are in it to win it, and we know that with your help, we will.
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Thursday evening is the deadline for a candidate to leave the race. Ballots — which were delayed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to remove his own name from — are currently being printed in the highly-competitive state. Voters are expected to begin receiving ballots as soon as Friday.

North Carolina, with its 16 electoral votes, is a critical state for the Trump campaign. If the campaign loses there, it can likely only win the election with a full sweep of all other battleground states. Robinson has consistently lagged behind his opponent, Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, in polls of the governor’s race, even as surveys have shown Trump neck-and-neck with Kamala Harris in the state.

Trump himself appears aware of how closely his fortunes are tied to Robinson’s. Just a few weeks ago, at a joint rally in Asheville, Trump praised Robinson as “a great one,” adding, to himself and the crowd, “He’s gotta win. He’s got to win. He’s got to win.” The former president has lavished praise on the lieutenant governor and urged Republican donors to support him. Robinson was given a prime speaking slot at the Republican National Convention.

Trump, clearly a fan, has repeatedly compared Robinson to “Martin Luther King on steroids,” including at a rally in Greensboro earlier this year, when Trump recalled watching, from his airplane, Robinson speak on TV.

“I was listening and I said to the people on the plane, ‘Watch this: This is Martin Luther King on steroids.’ Okay? Now, I told that to Mark. I said, ‘I think you’re better than Martin Luther King. I think you are. Martin Luther King times two.’ And he looked at me and I wasn’t sure — was he angry because that’s a terrible thing to say, or was he complimented? I have never figured it out,” the former president told the crowd at a March rally in Greensboro. He reiterated the “Dr. Martin Luther King on steroids” line at an NRA event in May.

At a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser late last year, Trump encouraged Republican donors to “quadruple” whatever they were contemplating giving to the Robinson campaign — and beyond giving money, he told them to “cherish” Robinson as well.

“We have to cherish Mark — he’s a star,” Trump told a gathering of wealthy supporters at his private club. “You have to cherish him. It’s like a fine wine because that’s what you have — you have a fine wine… [T]his incredible booming voice, and the beautiful rhetorical statements… He’s just an outstanding guy. I hope you can back him, and write checks for him.”

As recently as a few weeks ago, the Trump campaign was doubling down on its support for Robinson, despite his long, diverse history of controversies. RNC co-chair, and Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump told Bloomberg in late August that she was unconcerned about the possibility Robinson could be a drag on the former president’s performance in North Carolina.

“In fact I would say it’s the opposite. Donald Trump typically helps out the candidates in these races, down-ballot races,” she countered. “So that’s not a concern at all.”

Thursday’s report is not the first time the self-styled Christian conservative has found himself embroiled in allegations of salacious behavior. In the ‘90s and early 2000s, Robinson allegedly spent five nights a week in several of Greensboro’s windowless, 24-hour video-pornography stores, including one called Gents Video & News.

A number of men interviewed by The Assembly, a North Carolina-based investigative outlet, attested to Robinson’s voracious appetite for porn. One employee, Louis Money, told the outlet that Robinson would typically “preview” two videos a visit, but purchased “hundreds” of bootleg videos directly from him. “He was good for at least one a week,” Money said, describing Robinson’s preference as “super hardcore” content that he had traveled outside of the state to acquire. “Every night that I worked, which would have been five nights a week, I saw Mark,” he said. “He was spending a good amount of money.”

CNN’s report is also by no means the first time Robinson has landed in hot water over racist, sexist, and transphobic comments. He has an extremely long history of demonizing marginalized groups both as a private citizen and in his political career. In 2021, Robinson referred to LGBTQ people as “filth,” and shortly after heterosexual couples were “superior” to homosexual couples. He’s also likened LGBTQ relationships to cow shit, stated that he missed the days when women couldn’t vote, repeatedly denied the Holocaust, spread conspiracies about Jewish people, and claimed mass shootings were karma for abortions — just to name a few.

Trump’s Pick for NC Gov. Called Himself a ‘Black Nazi,’ MLK ‘Worse Than a Maggot’

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