Abandoned tweets, cancelled gatherings, eliminated support: Ways Republicans are distancing themselves from Mark Robinson
Robinson has turned into a politically toxic figure following the exposure of numerous inflammatory comments he made over a decade ago on a pornography website's message board. These comments included self-identifying as a "black NAZI," expressing support for slavery, and making other lewd and explicit remarks.
As a result, at least 10 Republicans and conservative groups have either canceled events with Robinson or erased their digital footprints to distance themselves from him, given that they share the ballot with him in November.
Laurie Buckhout, a US House candidate running in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, deleted at least nine photos of herself with Robinson from X, as revealed by screenshots and a Google cache of her tweets. She also erased a post calling Robinson "North Carolina’s next governor." Buckhout appears to have deleted five tweets in total.
Other candidates deleted photos of themselves with Robinson from their Facebook pages, as per a review of screenshots compared to their current web pages. Nonetheless, some pictures and posts of Robinson remain on their social media accounts.
Dave Boliek, the GOP candidate for state auditor in North Carolina, appears to have deleted a Facebook post featuring Robinson from August 2024. State Sen. Lisa Stone Barnes, running for reelection, appears to have removed at least one photo of herself with Robinson posted in January 2021 from her Facebook account. Although, several photos with Robinson remain on her social media accounts.
State Rep. Bill Ward, running for reelection, appears to have edited a post to remove a photo of himself with Robinson from July of this year. However, photos of Robinson at the event remain in the post.
Stacie McGinn, who is running for state Senate to represent parts of Mecklenburg County, deleted her post praising Robinson for commemorating a slain police officer. “Leave it to Mark Robinson to say so eloquently what we all feel,” she wrote in support of law enforcement, as per a screenshot. The post appears to have been deleted, but photos of events with Robinson in the past remain online.
State Rep. Allen Chesser, who is running for reelection, deleted Robinson’s endorsement from his website, as per the Wayback Machine, since the site was last archived in July.
Most candidates who removed posts featuring Robinson did not respond to CNN’s request for comment, including regarding whether they still endorse him.
In a statement to CNN, McGinn said, “The comments that were discovered are reprehensible. Mark Robinson says he didn’t make these comments, and it is up to him to prove that to the voters of North Carolina. I’m focused on the voters of State Senate District 42 in South Mecklenburg County and our race.”
Hal Weatherman, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor in the state, posted on X that Robinson “should conclusively and quickly prove false the allegations against him. ... His entire campaign strategy should be focused on proving the allegations false. During this process, I and the other Republican candidates need to stay focused on winning our own races.”
Some of the most prominent North Carolina Republicans in Washington have spoken out against Robinson.
“I think the clock is ticking,” US Sen. Thom Tillis told CNN’s Manu Raju. “I believe that Mr. Robinson needs to make a call fairly quickly, defend his name or – in the absence of a defense, then we’ve got to move on.”
Tillis supported Robinson’s opponent in the gubernatorial primary in March and has suggested he would not vote for Robinson in the general election.
“If Mr. Robinson doesn’t set forth a case that provides some credibility to a counterargument, then I think that most of us should move on, not be concerned with this race. Move on this week,” Tillis said.
The junior senator from North Carolina, Ted Budd, who endorsed Robinson for governor last year, told CNN he will vote for Robinson but called CNN’s report “very disturbing.”
Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina told Punchbowl News that she “hasn’t really followed him closely,” when asked about Robinson and CNN’s story. Foxx, according to her public Facebook page, has numerous photos with glowing and positive comments on Robinson. Foxx did not respond to CNN inquiries on Robinson’s comments.
Outside of North Carolina, national Republicans and conservative activist and advocacy groups have distanced themselves from Robinson. In neighboring Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp withdrew his endorsement of Robinson on Monday. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, the chair of the Republican Governors Association, also pulled his endorsement and canceled a RGA fundraiser in Greensboro, North Carolina. The RGA confirmed to CNN it would not spend any more money in the governor’s race.
Other canceled events featuring Robinson include a since-removed fundraiser to support the Trump-Vance campaign in Wisconsin on September 29. An updated invitation online now reads, “Our earlier speaker cancelled, but we have secured a great Trump ally for this event! Stay tuned!”
Robinson was also scheduled to appear as the main speaker at a fundraiser for the conservative group Dakota First Action in October. Updated promotions for the event no longer feature Robinson, and the group has not responded to questions on whether he is still speaking.
An invite for a “get out the vote” rally with the Johnston County, North Carolina, GOP for October 3 was updated to remove Robinson.
Meanwhile, Robinson’s events page – which was once full of events – is currently blank.
The NRA (National Rifle Association) has ceased to promote advertisements backing Robinson or criticizing his contender, Attorney General Josh Stein, as per Facebook's ad disclosure. The halt in advertising occurred last weekend, as reported by Facebook. Despite CNN's request for a comment, the NRA failed to respond.
Furthermore, CNN disclosed on Monday that Robinson's digital ad campaign came to a halt over the weekend and hasn't been reactivated since then.
Given the ongoing controversy surrounding Robinson's inflammatory comments, political analysts predict that his toxic reputation could impact the Republican Party's performance in key races in North Carolina.
The escalating backlash against Robinson has led some Republican candidates to carefully manage their public associations with him, as they may risk alienating voters who find his comments objectionable.
