(WGHP) — Just a few hours after allegations came out against North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, crews with NewsNation affiliate WGHP knocked on the front door of his home.
No one answered, so the station took questions to his neighbors. Julie Blount said she was still processing the CNN report, which said Robinson made inflammatory remarks on a pornography website’s message board a decade ago.
“While I was cutting the grass, I was praying for him. Hopefully, they’re not true, but it sounds like they might be with the evidence they have. I’ll see what happens. If he stays, I’ll support him,” Blount said.
Meanwhile, Rockingham County Republican Party Chairman Diane Parnell said her support for Robinson — who is the Republican candidate for governor — isn’t going anywhere and doesn’t believe any of the reported claims.
“There’s Republicans that are asking him to step down. Are they doing it for their benefit or something that they want? I just don’t understand,” Parnell said. “I trust Mark. I know Mark. I’ve known him for a number of years and his wife Yolanda. If there’s anyone I would believe in, it’s Mark Robinson.”
Jonathan Bridges, the campaign manager for former Rep. Mark Walker, says the controversy surrounding Robinson could potentially hurt other state races.
“The Carolina Journal polling this morning … has Mark Robinson down by 10 points, but our other council state races are down as well. Even Trump is down a few points on the ballot in North Carolina, and that should be concerning for any Republican in the state,” Bridges said
If Robinson chooses to step out of the race, Bridges says the conversation needs to happen now.
“I think that’s a question the NCGOP … the Trump campaign need to have with the lieutenant governor,” Bridges said. “Polling shows his campaign certainly isn’t helping the ticket.”
Robinson’s background
Robinson was born in Greensboro. Prior to running for North Carolina lieutenant governor, he held furniture factory jobs and worked with his wife to run a daycare in the early 2000s, which controversially received citations and which he called “difficult to keep afloat.” He has spoken of losing jobs which he blames on the North American Free Trade Agreement.
He has a long history of financial struggles. On his campaign website, he says he “grew up extremely poor as the ninth of ten children.” As an adult, he has had multiple bankruptcies and ended up five years behind on taxes. He’s been scrutinized for rent nonpayment and vehicle tax nonpayment. The nonprofit his wife ran from prior to his political career until 2024 is also under scrutiny, both state and federal, for financial and operational issues, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
Robinson launched himself into the public consciousness when video from an April 2018 meeting of the Greensboro City Council went viral. In that video, he gave an impassioned speech about his beliefs on gun regulations in response to the cancelation of a gun show at the Greensboro Coliseum. The speech was turned into an NRA advertisement. He would later serve as a board member for the NRA.
The issue of the Greensboro Coliseum and gun shows would later become a lawsuit between mayoral hopeful Eric Robert and the city, which Robert ultimately dropped.
He was elected lieutenant governor, his first political office, and became the first Black man to hold that office in 2020. During his time as lieutenant governor, he started the FACTS Taskforce, dedicated to “exposing indoctrination in the classroom” and giving parents a way to submit instructional material or library books found in North Carolina schools that parents or community members find objectionable.
He has faced criticism for homophobic and anti-transgender comments, including during a podcast appearance in February 2023, as well as accusations that he has perpetuated conspiracy theories about the attack on Paul Pelosi and Michelle Obama’s gender. Most recently, during a March 19 speaking engagement at Trinity Baptist Church in Mooresville, he said seeing churches that fly the rainbow flag “makes him sick.”
He has been open about his anti-abortion views at various speaking engagements, calling North Carolina a “destination state for death“ on a radio appearance. Critics have pointed out that Robinson’s own wife has gotten an abortion, which he has lamented as “the hardest decision we ever made, and sadly, we made the wrong one.” In recent months, he has softened, publicly stating his support for the abortion law as it’s on the books, a 12-week limitation.
Talking Points Media combed through nearly a decade of social media activity, calling him a “Facebook brawler who rails against gays, blacks and Jews,” citing posts where he discusses antisemitic conspiracy theories like globalism and the New World Order.