Several senior campaign officials for Mark Robinson step down in wake of CNN report

CNN

By Dianne Gallagher and Daniel Strauss, CNN

(CNN) — Several top operatives on Republican Mark Robinson’s campaign for North Carolina governor have stepped down, just days after a CNN report uncovered inflammatory comments the candidate made on a porn website.

Robinson’s campaign announced Sunday evening that general consultant and senior adviser Conrad Pogorzelski III, campaign manager Chris Rodriguez, finance director Heather Whillier and deputy campaign manager Jason Rizk have stepped down from the campaign. Pogorzelski confirmed the news when reached by CNN.

“The reports are true that I, along with others from the campaign have left of our own accord,” he told CNN in a statement.

Pogorzelski also named additional officials who left the campaign: deputy finance director Caroline Winchester, political director John Kontoulas, political director Jackson Lohrer and director of operations Patrick Riley.

The departures come in the aftermath of a CNN report uncovering inflammatory comments the lieutenant governor and Republican nominee for governor made on a pornography website message board over a decade ago. The lewd comments included Robinson describing himself as a “black Nazi” and how he used to go “peeping” on women at a public gym when he was 14 years old.

Robinson has a long history of making inflammatory statements but the newly unearthed message board posts go a step beyond.

Robinson listed his full name on his profile for Nude Africa, a pornographic website that includes a message board, as well as an email address he used on numerous websites across the internet for decades.

Many gratuitously sexual and lewd in nature, the comments were made under the username minisoldr, a moniker Robinson used frequently online. CNN was able to identify the username as Robinson by matching a litany of biographical details and a shared email address between the two.

Robinson commented on issues of race, gender and abortion in posts. In some, he referred to himself as a “black NAZI!” and expressed support for reinstating slavery. In others, he discussed his affinity for transgender pornography – despite a recent history of anti-transgender rhetoric.

In an interview with CNN on Thursday, Robinson repeatedly denied that he made the comments on Nude Africa.

“This is not us. These are not our words. And this is not anything that is characteristic of me,” Robinson said. Presented with the litany of evidence connecting him with the user name on Nude Africa, Robinson said, “I’m not going to get into the minutia of how somebody manufactured this, these salacious tabloid lies.”

The North Carolina Republican Party is standing behind its candidate through the controversy so far, issuing a statement of support on Thursday.

“Mark Robinson has categorically denied the allegations made by CNN but that won’t stop the Left from trying to demonize him via personal attacks. The Left needs this election to be a personality contest, not a policy contest because if voters are focused on policy, Republicans win on Election Day,” read a statement, issued by the NCGOP on Thursday – just a few hours before the state deadline for a candidate to withdraw.

Since the CNN report, some North Carolina Republicans have moved to pressure Robinson to drop out – though the state deadline for him to officially withdraw as a candidate has passed. Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign has also looked to leverage Robinson’s association with former President Donald Trump in a new ad.

The offensive posts were removed from the pornographic website Nude Africa on Thursday, CNN’s KFILE reported. It’s unclear whether the comments were removed by Robinson or Nude Africa administrators. Neither the Robinson campaign nor Nude Africa responded to inquiries from CNN.

In a statement announcing the departure Robinson reiterated his intention to stay in the race, saying, “Polls have consistently underestimated Republican support in North Carolina for several cycles now and with a large portion of the electorate still undecided as we continue to ramp up our efforts across the state, I am confident our campaign remains in a strong position to make our case to the voters and win on November 5.”

Robinson was nowhere to be found at Saturday’s rally by Trump in the Tar Heel State. The Trump campaign did not invite Robinson to the rally in Wilmington, and the former president made no mention of the lieutenant governor in his remarks.

Trump has a long history of praising Robinson. At a campaign rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, in March, Trump said he was listening to Robinson speak while he was on his plane and called him “Martin Luther King on steroids.”

“I said, ‘I think you’re better than Martin Luther King. I think you are Martin Luther King times two,’” Trump said at the time.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski, Em Steck and Eric Bradner contributed to this report.

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