Mark Robinson's liabilities come home to roost

Zoom in: The CNN report revealed Robinson called himself a "black NAZI!" and a "perv" on pornographic message boards, expressed support for reinstating slavery, and said he enjoyed watching transgender pornography. Robinson denies the allegations.

• The report was the latest in a series of revelations about Robinson. Earlier in the month, The Assembly reported that six men said Robinson was a regular customer at Greensboro video-porn stores in the 1990s and early 2000s, which Robinson denied.

The latest: Although Robinson has been working to refocus his campaign onto issues at the top of the minds of many voters, such as the economy, many Republicans fear Robinson's chance to pivot has already evaporated. They're moving to protect other candidates from being dragged down by association, Axios reported in collaboration with The Assembly, a statewide magazine.

• Robinson did not appear with Trump at a rally Saturday in Wilmington, and the former president, who previously endorsed Robinson and called him "Martin Luther King on steroids," did not mention Robinson in his hour-long speech.
• The Robinson campaign said Sunday that four top staffers had resigned.
• The Republican Governors Association also said it had no more future ad buys in North Carolina following the report.

The other side: In a recent video posted on X, formerly Twitter, Robinson denied the allegations in the CNN story.

• "You know my words, you know my character, and you know that I have been completely transparent in this race and before," he said.

Zoom out: Even before the CNN story, Robinson faced a litany of political liabilities.

• These include old social media posts and statements that included calling the Holocaust "hogwash," likening gay and transgender people to "filth," past bankruptcies, inspection violations at a child care center he and his wife ran, and state investigations into his wife's nonprofit.

Rob Christensen, a former political reporter for The News & Observer who covered North Carolina for more than four decades, said that it's unprecedented to see a major political party put up "such a flawed candidate in North Carolina."

• "This is a failure by the Republican Party to vet their candidates," he added. "Mark Robinson pretty much came from nowhere. He went from working in a factory to the lieutenant governor's race and running for governor" with few people checking his background.

Just a few days before the CNN report, Robinson was hoping to steer the conversation away from his controversial remarks when he appeared at a Sept. 17 event with business leaders at CharBar No. 7 in Charlotte. His campaign was shifting its strategy to get him in front of more voters in response to his negative polling, and Robinson admitted it had been tough traveling back and forth across the state at a relentless pace.

• "Don't let them tell you I'm going to go into office and be some wild, crazy culture warrior," Robinson said while members of the Hood Hargett Breakfast Club dined on honey-glazed chicken or salmon.

• But the audience wanted to know more about whether he really believed the things he had said on social media and the specific abortion law he would seek in office — making it hard for him to focus on any potential policies he must instill.

State of play: The endless controversies have hindered Robinson from connecting with moderate voters in the state.

• Parker Wilson, 40, who works at a software firm in Charlotte and was previously registered as a Republican, said Robinson's rhetoric is turning away voters, especially women. Many of her friends, she said, expressed to her that they can't support Robinson after she joined a Republicans for Stein group and the CNN article was published.
• "It really speaks to the impact of rhetoric," she said. "A lot of my friends that were originally voting a very good Republican ticket are really evaluating the implications of that."
• "The comments that I received [after the CNN story] from people my age, from all across the state, feel similarly that we cannot, especially those of us raising daughters, have an elected official who says what he says," she added.

What they're saying: Dale Folwell, the two-term state treasurer who unsuccessfully challenged Robinson in the primary, said Republicans only have themselves to blame.

• "Mark Robinson was selected by former President Trump, [Republican Party chairman] Michael Whatley, [Senate leader] Phil Berger and [House Speaker] Tim Moore, who either did or should have complete knowledge of the things that are being said about Mark Robinson today."

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