Reports: Pressure Builds on N.C. GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Mark Robinson to Drop Out of Race

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R-NC), North Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, reportedly faces pressure to drop out of the race as a CNN story, widely expected to harm his campaign, looms.

Reports of the forthcoming story, which contains allegations Robinson denies, surfaced midday Thursday, the eve of when mail-in ballots will be set to go out. It is unclear exactly what the article will be about, as reports have differed.

For example, the Carolina Journal reported the story will center around “activity on adult websites in [the] 2000s.” Meanwhile, Business North Carolina reported it will involve racist remarks he allegedly made on message boards years ago.

“The main ones I remember were that they were alleging he made some extremely racist comments about Martin Luther King, referred to himself as a Black Nazi and used antisemitic language referring to Jews,” Jason Williams, who is a partner at Endgame Consulting, said.

The firm is involved with Robsinon’s campaign, but Williams is not officially on the team, according to Business North Carolina. Williams said that Robinson denied the allegations when they spoke.

“I spoke to Mark this morning and he was prepared to go on CNN and defend himself against the allegations,” he said.

Robinson denied all allegations in the forthcoming story in a video posted Thursday afternoon.

“Guys, the news media is at it again. My opponent is at it again. You’ve all 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,” he said.

“Let me reassure you, the things that 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,” he added.

While there are conflicting reports about the story’s content, and Robinson categorically denies the allegations, he is facing pressure from Republicans to bow out of the race Thursday, per multiple outlets.

The Carolina Journal reports:

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.

The Washington Post reinforces this was the case:

Few seemed to know what the new information would entail, but Republican officials, including some working on behalf of Trump’s presidential campaign, were pressuring Robinson to withdraw from the race, according to multiple political professionals in the state who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly.

Absentee ballots will be mailed to those who request them beginning tomorrow – Friday, September 19 – in North Carolina, and Thursday the 18th marks the deadline to withdraw from the ballot, per the Carolina Journal.

Robinson is squaring off with Democrat gubernatorial nominee Attorney General Josh Stein in the general election.