GOP Leaders Hedge Around Mark Robinson’s Porn Comment Scandal

Several leading Republicans refused to outright denounce North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) as a scandal over his alleged comments on a porn website roiled the GOP over the weekend.

While speaking to NBC Philadelphia on Saturday, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) stopped short of rebuking the gubernatorial candidate who, in a recent report from CNN, was accused of calling himself a “Black Nazi,” saying he supported slavery and making an array of shocking sexual comments on an adult website years ago.

Robinson firmly denied the allegations while vowing to stay in the race in a video statement posted Thursday night, calling himself the victim of a “high-tech lynching.”

Vance was less than unequivocal in his comments about the controversy, telling the NBC affiliate, “The allegations are pretty far out there, of course, but I know that allegations aren’t necessarily reality.”

“I don’t not believe him, I don’t believe him,” the Republican vice presidential candidate continued to hedge. “I just think that you have to let these things sometimes play out in the court of public opinion.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) took a cautious approach while appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning, telling host Kristen Welker that Robinson “deserves a chance to defend himself.”

“The charges are beyond unnerving,” he said. “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.”

“What I would do if I were him, I would hire me the best lawyer I could find [and] I’d sue the hell out of CNN,” Graham added, claiming that Robinson “has an obligation to defend himself” from this scandal “hanging over his campaign.”

Elsewhere on the Sunday interview circuit, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) called the allegations “concerning” while trying to shift the focus to the 2024 presidential race.

“He owes the people of North Carolina more answers about it,” Cotton told Jake Tapper, a co-host of CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Asked if Donald Trump should rescind his endorsement of Robinson, Cotton said he’d “leave that” decision up to the former president.

“Most importantly, I’ll leave it to the people of North Carolina,” he added.

Previously one of Robinson’s most prominent backers, Trump once referred to the lieutenant governor as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”

Trump has yet to address the Robinson controversy, avoiding any mention of the embattled politician during a campaign rally in North Carolina, a critical swing state, on Saturday.