North Carolina Republican Mark Robinson, whose long history of bigotry was shocking even for a politician backed by Donald Trump, lost his race for governor to Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein on Tuesday.
Stein led Robinson by nearly 30 points as early results came in on Tuesday, enough for Fox News, NBC News and others to declare the race in favor of the Democratic Party.
Robinson’s track record of racially offensive statements has defined his campaign. He has attacked Jews, Muslims and the LGBTQ community, calling abortion “genocide” and the survivors of the Parkland school shooting “spoiled.” He also made a series of wild and obscene posts on the message board of a porn site called Nude Africa, CNN reported in September, writing that Martin Luther King Jr. was “worse than a maggot” and describing himself in one post as a “rebel.” “Black Nazi!”
Donald Trump has been a strong supporter of Robinson, formally endorsing him at a rally in March. The former president has dubbed Robinson the “Martin Luther King Energizer Bunny” and has described him as “better than Martin Luther King” and “Martin Luther King twice over.”
Trump first said he would endorse Robinson at the Republican Party’s annual convention in North Carolina last year, calling on donors to “quadruple their campaign contributions,” saying they should “cherish” Robinson, while praising his “amazing, booming voice” and “beautiful oratory.” Statements.”
Robinson joined Trump at a rally in Asheboro, North Carolina, in August, but by September, after CNN reported on his comments about the porn forum, Trump backed away from the controversial candidate. Rolling Stone reported in September that Trump wanted to know if Robinson was mentally ill, and the two have not been seen together since, with Trump claiming in October that he is “not aware of the state of the race right now.”
Trump’s feigned ignorance is not surprising given the nature of Robinson’s comments on the porn forum. Robinson called himself a “pervert” and detailed how he secretly watched women in a gym locker room as a teenager. “Ahhhhhh Memories !!!!” he wrote in one of the many astonishing posts. In another, he wrote: “Slavery is not bad.” “Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it back. I would definitely buy some.” In 2012, during Barack Obama’s presidency, Robinson wrote: “I would put Hitler in charge of anything in Washington right now!”
In addition to writing that Martin Luther King was “worse than worms,” Robinson called the civil rights leader an “illegal communist,” writing in one post: “I’m not in the Ku Klux Klan. They don’t allow blacks to join. If I was in the KKK I would have called him Martin Lucifer Coon!
King’s son, Martin Luther King III, said that “Robinson’s praise of slavery, insulting rhetoric, and bizarre characterization of my father and his legacy are deeply troubling for North Carolinians and all Americans who oppose racism and intolerance.”
Robinson denied making these comments. “That’s not us. Those are not our words. That’s not who I am,” he said. Robinson sued CNN over its report
Robinson made his first public appearance in 2018 when he made comments about his support for gun rights at a Greensboro City Council meeting. Those comments came in the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed. Robinson said: “Criminals are going to keep their guns.” “They’re still going to get them. They’re still going to break into my house. They’re still going to shoot me with them. Guess who’s going to be the one who suffers? It’s going to be me.”
In a Facebook post around the same time, Robinson characterized Parkland survivors who advocate for gun control as “spoiled, angry, know-it-all children.” He also called them “assholes” and “silly and immature media saleswomen.”
Robinson also made inflammatory statements about abortion, calling it “genocide” and suggesting that the founders of Planned Parenthood were “devil worshippers involved in witchcraft,” referring to abortion as “a direct idea from the devil.” However, he was not so outspoken during the campaign. In July. Rolling Stone days after the state’s abortion ban went into effect, Robinson reportedly said he didn’t want to say the “A-word,” fearing the issue would hurt him politically.
That turned out to be the least of his troubles.