Mark Robinson may be in hot water with Trump and his voters after latest controversy
BURNSVILLE, N.C. – Republican candidate for governor Mark Robinson had just finished a fiery speech, given to a crowd of about 100 gathered in a grassy town square nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, when he added a word of warning.
“Winning this election in November is not going to be easy for any of us,” Robinson said during a rally in early September. “Not for one single, solitary Republican.”
CNN reported Thursday "a series of inflammatory comments” allegedly made by Robinson on a pornography website message board over a decade ago. The postings ranged from support for reinstating slavery to calling himself a “black NAZI!”
Robinson denies being the author behind the messages.
Since launching his gubernatorial campaign last year and sailing through North Carolina’s March primary, the current lieutenant governor garnered a reputation for controversial statements, including mocking school shooting victims and endorsing antisemitic conspiracy theories.
All the while, Robinson had been in lockstep with his party’s leader and former President Donald Trump. The pair made multiple appearances together in North Carolina and endorsed one another's campaigns.
Before news broke last week, several Tar Heel State voters told USA TODAY they were committed to Trump and therefore planned to keep the rest of their ballot straight-ticket Republican.
But amid this latest scandal, Robinson could be on his own, facing down a rocky race that threatens consequences for Republicans up and down the ticket in 2024.
Keeping up with Election 2024? Sign up for USA TODAY's On Politics newsletter.
Dipping support for Robinson
Robinson’s campaign already hit a popularity stumble heading into September, when multiple polls showed him trailing his opponent, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, by double digits.
Despite sharing the stage and much of the same GOP base, Robinson’s numbers also lagged that of Trump.
While Robinson, whose gubernatorial contest had been referred to as the most competitive this cycle, fell behind, Trump maintains a one-point edge over Vice President Kamala Harris in North Carolina, according to a recent survey by Emerson College Polling and The Hill.
Robinson's campaign said in a statement last Tuesday they were not concerned: "Polls have consistently underestimated Republican support in North Carolina for several cycles now," said Mike Lonergan, communications director for the campaign. "Mark Robinson remains in a strong position to win in November."
Lonergan did not respond to an additional request for comment since Thursday's report.
Matthew Pearl, 37, moved to North Carolina two years ago and told USA TODAY earlier this month that he hadn't paid much attention yet to the governor's race. A registered Republican planning to vote for Trump, Pearl said at the time he would probably vote for fellow member of the GOP, Robinson.
But since reading CNN's report, Pearl said that's no longer the case.
"It definitely disgusted me," said Pearl, who lives in Belmont, just west of Charlotte, North Carolina. “It was pretty mind blowing to see ... there's negative things that everyone has, but that stuff, like you are not a good human being.”
Pearl said he does not believe Robinson's denials and has started to look into Stein, Robinson's opponent, though he is still in the process of making a decision.
But, he said, “I know I won't vote for Mark Robinson, I’ll tell you that.”
'Mixed reviews' from Tar Heel State voters
Within a midway crowded with deep-fried food stalls and colorful carnival rides, Christina Osterbind was manning a modest-sized booth stocked with Trump merchandise at the 10-day North Carolina Mountain State Fair in Asheville earlier this month.
While out selling in the still lingering summer heat, Osterbind, 46 and a resident of Virginia, said she would talk politics with many fairgoers. Besides the presidential contest, she said she heard from many about the governor’s race.
And did people there support Robinson as much as Trump, even before news broke?
“Yes and no,” she said.
“It’s kind of been like a mixed review,” Osterbind continued. "A lot of them, they don’t mind him. They like him. They like a lot of his views. But there's some things they don’t agree with.”
Kenny Hollifield, 52, hadn’t made up his mind yet when it comes to the presidential race but said at this point, he leans towards Trump.
“I don’t like either one of them,” but, “I like more fiscally responsible politics,” said Hollifield, a project manager in construction from Marion, North Carolina, on the edge of the mountains.
Yet when it comes to the governor’s race, Hollifield is much more decided: “Definitely not Mark Robinson,” he said. “Too fanatical.”
“He’s just too radical for me, especially on guns,” Hollifield added, saying he plans to vote for Stein this year.
Robinson first rose to prominence for his fervent defense of gun rights as a citizen at a Greensboro City Council meeting in 2018. His entrance to politics came soon after, in 2020 becoming the state’s first Black lieutenant governor.
Continued fallout from Robinson's scandal
Trump, who once referred to Robinson as "Martin Luther King on steroids," appears to be putting space between himself and the embattled candidate.
At a campaign rally in Wilmington Saturday, Trump made zero mention of Robinson. That same day, a hundred miles away in Fayetteville, Robinson made his first public appearance since the CNN report.
Incendiary comments, staff resignations: What we know about Mark Robinson scandal
Still, the former president has not dropped his endorsement of Robinson. And NBC News reported Friday he has no plans to, despite calls from allies and advisers.
Other prominent Republicans are pulling their support though, including Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. Chair of the Republican Governors Association, Lee was scheduled to host a $500 per ticket fundraiser in Greensboro, North Carolina, this week, but his office confirmed Friday the event and Lee's appearance were canceled.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp likewise will "not be offering further support to the Robinson campaign," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Monday.
Multiple staff members have resigned since the scandal broke. The campaign announced Sunday that top adviser Conrad Pogorzelski, campaign manager Chris Rodriguez, finance director Heather Whillier and deputy campaign manager Jason Rizk stepped down.
Cook Political Report shifted their rating of North Carolina's gubernatorial race to "likely Democrat" immediately following the news from CNN.
White House sized stakes in North Carolina
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called the allegations against Robinson “unnerving,” during an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday.
“If they’re true, he’s unfit to serve for office,” Graham said. “If they’re not true, he has the best lawsuit in the history of the country for libel.”
Still, Graham told NBC’s Kristen Welker he does not believe this will come back to bite the rest of the GOP.
“Robinson’s going to have to deal with it. There’s nothing, no accusation involving Trump. This is all about Robinson,” Graham said Sunday. “It’s him, not me, it’s not Trump. He’s the one that supposedly said these things. He has a right to defend himself. He needs to defend himself.”
Democrats, though, certainly hope otherwise.
“It’s great news for the Democrats,” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., said Sunday on Meet the Press. “I mean, Robinson is, actually he’s the new dream candidate to run against.”
Were Robinson to drag Trump down in a sort-of reverse coattails, a win for Harris in battleground North Carolina could be the ballgame in this year’s presidential race.
Trump’s has a smaller advantage in North Carolina compared to the polling lead he held over President Joe Biden, prior to Biden’s exit from the race in late July.
In a memo Friday, the Harris campaign argued North Carolina is “even more competitive at the presidential level” in the wake of last week’s bombshell.
“Donald Trump and Mark Robinson have a long history of praising each other, campaigning alongside each other, and sharing the same toxic agenda,” the memo reads. “Donald Trump’s and Mark Robinson’s fates in North Carolina are tied together.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mark Robinson may struggle with voters, impact presidential race in NC