JD Vance and Mark Robinson
JD Vance and Mark Robinson

North Carolina’s Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson made headlines last week following a bombshell CNN report. It reprinted old comments it claims the politician — who is currently running for Governor — made on a p*rn forum around 12 years ago.

The controversial comments included labeling himself a “Black N*zi”, disparaging Martin Luther King, and saying slavery wasn’t all that bad and should be brought back. He also expressed a liking for p*rn featuring trans women. Other comments were too lewd to reprint.

Despite strong evidence linking him to the ‘Nude Africa’ forum (both he and the user shared the same email address and Robinson has used the same username on other platforms), Robinson denied the comments were his. He claims they were artificially created.

JD Vance: “I don’t not believe him”

On Saturday, Ohio Senator JD Vance, who’s running for Vice President, was asked about the Robinson story by an NBC Philadelphia reporter. Vance’s attempt to sit on the fence prompted a big reaction online.

“Well, look, the allegations are pretty far out there, of course, but I know that allegations aren’t necessarily reality,” Vance said.

“Ultimately it’s up to Mark Robinson and North Carolina whether he’s going to be their governor and whether he wants to stay in the race.”

Asked if he believed Robinson’s denial, Vance said, “I don’t not believe him, I don’t believe him — I just think that you have to let these things sometimes play out in the court of public opinion. He’s going to make whatever arguments he wants to make. I’m sure the news media and others are going to investigate these comments further.”

Some people expressed surprise at Vance pushing for further evidence.

Donald Trump has previously endorsed and championed Mark Robinson. He has yet to have condemned Robinson over the alleged comments. Some wondered if that was influencing Vance.

Trump visits North Carolina

Donald Trump himself went to North Carolina on Saturday. However, Mark Robinson was not included in any of Trump’s appearances in the state. Trump notably also made no reference to Robinson during his rally in Wilmington that day. He did, however, praise other local Republican politicians.

Robinson was already around right points behind in the polls against his Democratic rival before last week’s story broke. Most political observers believe that last week’s report has killed Robinson’s slim chance of becoming Governor.

Attorney General Josh Stein, Robinson’s opponent, said on Facebook, “Mark Robinson is absolutely unfit to be the governor of North Carolina. And that was true before your story broke last Thursday. The story has only served to underline and put an exclamation point on that fact.”

Key aides to Robinson quit

On Sunday, four leading aides on Robinson’s campaign team quit. According to a statement from Robinson, this includes a campaign manager, a finance director, a deputy campaign manager and a general consultant and senior adviser.

“I appreciate the efforts of these team members who have made the difficult choice to step away from the campaign, and I wish them well in their future endeavors,” Robinson said in the release. “I look forward to announcing new staff roles in the coming days.”

Vance was not alone in saying little of consequence about Robinson’s alleged comments. Interviewed yesterday, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham told NBC News yesterday that Robinson, “Deserves a chance to defend himself. The charges are beyond unnerving. If they’re true, he’s unfit to serve for office. If they’re not true, he has the best lawsuit in the history of the country for libel.”

Graham went on to say that he doesn’t believe the Robinson scandal will impact Donald Trump.

Although many Republicans have distanced themselves from Robinson in recent days, the Lieutenant Governor can perhaps take comfort he’s got one man on his side.

Former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn called CNN’s story “lies” and “smears”.

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