CNN
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Republicans running for office in North Carolina and across the country are distancing themselves from Mark Robinson, deleting photos of themselves alongside the controversial Republican gubernatorial candidate and removing any references to his endorsement from their campaign materials.
Robinson has become politically toxic since CNN reported on dozens of inflammatory comments he made on a porn website’s message board more than a decade ago, including calling himself a “black NAZI,” advocating for slavery and making other offensive and sexually explicit remarks.
At least ten Republicans and conservative groups have either canceled events with Robinson or deleted their digital footprints to distance themselves from the man they will be on the ballot with in November.
U.S. candidate for the House of Representatives Laurie Buckhout, who is running in a hotly contested race in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, has been deleted at least nine photos of herself with Robinson on X, according to screenshots and a Google cache of her tweets. She also deleted a post that called Robinson the “next governor of North Carolina.” Buckhout appears to have deleted five tweets in total.
Other candidates appeared to have deleted photos of themselves alongside Robinson from their Facebook pages, according to a review of screenshots of their current websites. However, some photos and posts of Robinson remain on their social media accounts.
Dave Boliek, the Republican candidate for North Carolina state auditor, appears to have deleted a Facebook post featuring Robinson from August 2024. State Senator Lisa Stone Barnes, who is running for re-election, appears to have deleted at least one photo of herself with Robinson posted in January 2021 from her Facebook account. However, other photos featuring Robinson remain on her social media accounts.
Rep. Bill Ward, who is running for re-election, appears to have edited a post to remove a photo of him with Robinson from July of this year. However, images of Robinson at the event can still be found in the post.
Stacie McGinn, who is running for Senate to represent parts of Mecklenburg County, deleted her post praising Robinson for remembering a slain police officer. “Leave it to Mark Robinson to express so eloquently what we all feel,” she wrote in support of law enforcement, according to a screenshot. The post appears to have been deleted, but photos of events featuring Robinson from years past remain online.
And state Rep. Allen Chesser, who is running for re-election, has deleted Robinson’s statement of support from his website since the page was last archived in July, according to the Wayback Machine.
With one exception, all candidates who removed posts featuring Robinson did not respond to CNN’s request for comment, including whether they still support him.
McGinn told CNN: “The comments discovered are reprehensible. Mark Robinson says he did not make those comments, and it is up to him to prove that to the voters of North Carolina. My focus is on the voters of the 42nd Senate District in South Mecklenburg County and on our race.”
Hal Weatherman, the Republican candidate for the state’s lieutenant governor, wrote on X that Robinson “should quickly and conclusively prove the allegations against him false. … His entire campaign strategy should be focused on proving the allegations false. During that process, I and the other Republican candidates must focus on winning our own elections.”
Some of North Carolina’s most prominent Republicans in Washington have spoken out against Robinson.
“I think the clock is ticking,” U.S. Senator Thom Tillis told CNN’s Manu Raju. “I think Mr. Robinson needs to make a call pretty quickly and defend his name, or – if there is no defense – we need to move on.”
Tillis endorsed Robinson’s opponent in the March gubernatorial primary and indicated that he would not vote for Robinson in the general election.
“If Mr. Robinson doesn’t make a case that lends credibility to a counterargument, then I think most of us should move on and not worry about this campaign. Move on this week,” Tillis said.
North Carolina junior Senator Ted Budd, who supported Robinson for governor last year, told CNN he would vote for Robinson but called CNN’s report “very disturbing.”
Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina told Punchbowl News she “hasn’t really been following him closely” when asked about Robinson and CNN’s story. Foxx has numerous photos with glowing and positive comments about Robinson, according to her public Facebook page. Foxx did not respond to CNN’s inquiries about Robinson’s comments.
Outside North Carolina, national Republicans and conservative activist and advocacy groups have distanced themselves from Robinson. In neighboring Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp withdrew his support for Robinson on Monday. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, also withdrew his support and canceled an RGA fundraiser in Greensboro, North Carolina. The RGA confirmed to CNN that it will not spend any more money on the gubernatorial campaign.
Other canceled events featuring Robinson include a now-canceled fundraiser to support the Trump-Vance campaign on Sept. 29 in Wisconsin. An updated invitation posted online now reads: “Our previous speaker has canceled, but we were able to secure a great Trump ally for this event! Stay tuned!”
Robinson was also scheduled to be the keynote speaker at a fundraiser for the conservative group Dakota First Action in October. Robinson no longer appears in current commercials for the event, and the group has not responded to questions about whether he will still be a speaker.
An invitation to a “Get Out to Vote” rally with the Johnston County (North Carolina) GOP on October 3 was updated to unseat Robinson.
Meanwhile, Robinson’s events page – which was once full of events – is currently empty.
According to Facebook’s advertising disclosure, the National Rifle Association is no longer running ads in support of Robinson or against his opponent, Attorney General Josh Stein. Facebook said the ads were taken down last weekend. The group did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
CNN also reported Monday that digital commercials for Robinson were canceled over the weekend and have not resumed since.
