Republicans beg their North Carolina governor candidate Mark Robinson to drop out before deadline

Mark Robinson, the GOP's candidate for governor in North Carolina, trails Democratic opponent Josh Stein in the polls. But that's not why his party is pressuring him to drop out the race before the withdrawal deadline tomorrow. The Carolina Journal reports that an exposé is to be published imminently and will contain damaging revelations about past behavior.

Sources with direct knowledge have spoken with Carolina Journal on the condition of anonymity and said that Robinson is under pressure from staff and members of the Trump campaign to withdraw from the governor's race due to the nature of the story, which they say involves activity on adult websites in 2000s.

According to sources, Robinson has resisted withdrawing and privately denies the story.

Even given the party's rightward turn, for a 20-year-old smut habit to be trouble, surely it's not going to be a Pornhub category or orientation. It's going to be stuff that gets you put on a list.

Whatever it is, it's known to insiders. The National Review's Audrey Fahlberg writes on Twitter [archive.org] that sources tell her it concerns "comments Robinson made on online chat rooms, tho the story could be about something else as well"

Previously:
• A cop in Matthews, North Carolina, choked a handcuffed man and the city kept the video secret for 3 years
• Federal appeals court blasts North Carolina's unconstitutional, Republican gerrymandering, orders new districts by Jan 24
• North Carolina GOP says voters have no right to fair elections