Deleted tweets, canceled events, erased endorsements: How Republicans are fleeing from Mark Robinson

By Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck, CNN

(CNN) — Republicans running for office in North Carolina and around the country are distancing themselves from Mark Robinson, deleting photos of themselves side by side with the embattled Republican nominee for governor and removing any reference to his endorsement from their campaign materials.

Robinson has become politically toxic since CNN reported on dozens of inflammatory comments he made on a pornography website’s message board more than a decade ago, including referring to himself as a “black NAZI,” expressing support for slavery, and making other lewd and sexually explicit remarks.

At least 10 Republicans and conservative groups have either canceled events with Robinson or erased their digital footprints to distance themselves from the man they will share a ballot with this November.

US House candidate Laurie Buckhout, who is running in a competitive race in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, deleted at least nine photos of herself with Robinson on X, according to screenshots and a Google cache of her tweets. She also deleted a post calling Robinson “North Carolina’s next governor.” Buckhout appears to have deleted five tweets in total.

Other candidates appeared to delete photos with themselves side by side with Robinson from their Facebook pages, according to a review of screenshots against their current web pages. Still, some photos and posts of Robinson remain on their social media accounts.

Dave Boliek, the GOP candidate for state auditor in North Carolina, appears to have deleted a Facebook post featuring Robinson from August 2024. State Sen. Lisa Stone Barnes, running for reelection, appears to have removed at least one photo of herself with Robinson posted in January 2021 from her Facebook account. Other photos with Robinson, however, remain on her social media accounts.

State Rep. Bill Ward, running for reelection, appears to have edited a post to remove a photo of himself with Robinson from July of this year. Images of Robinson at the event, however, remain in the post.

Stacie McGinn, who is running for state Senate to represent parts of Mecklenburg County, deleted her post praising Robinson for commemorating a slain police officer. “Leave it to Mark Robinson to say so eloquently what we all feel,” she wrote in support of law enforcement, according to a screenshot. The post appears to have been deleted, but photos of events with Robinson in years past remain online.

And state Rep. Allen Chesser, who is running for reelection, deleted Robinson’s endorsement from his website, according to the Wayback Machine, since the site was last archived in July.

All but one of the candidates who removed posts featuring Robinson did not respond to CNN’s request for comment, including regarding whether they still endorsed him.

McGinn told CNN in a statement, “The comments that were discovered are reprehensible. Mark Robinson says he didn’t make these comments, and it is up to him to prove that to the voters of North Carolina. I’m focused on the voters of State Senate District 42 in South Mecklenburg County and our race.”

Hal Weatherman, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor in the state, posted on X that Robinson “should conclusively and quickly prove false the allegations against him. … His entire campaign strategy should be focused on proving the allegations false. During this process I and the other Republican candidates need to stay focused on winning our own races.”

Some of the most prominent North Carolina Republicans in Washington have spoken out against Robinson.

“I think the clock is ticking,” US Sen. Thom Tillis told CNN’s Manu Raju. “I believe that Mr. Robinson needs to make a call fairly quickly, defend his name or – in the absence of a defense, then we’ve got to move on.”

Tillis supported Robinson’s opponent in the gubernatorial primary in March and has suggested he would not vote for Robinson in the general election.

“If Mr. Robinson doesn’t set forth a case that provides some credibility to a counterargument, then I think that most of us should move on, not be concerned with this race. Move on this week,” Tillis said.

The junior senator from North Carolina, Ted Budd, who endorsed Robinson for governor last year, told CNN he will vote for Robinson but called CNN’s report “very disturbing.”

Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina told Punchbowl News that she “hasn’t really followed him closely,” when asked about Robinson and CNN’s story. Foxx, according to her public Facebook page, has numerous photos with glowing and positive comments on Robinson. Foxx did not respond to CNN inquiries on Robinson’s comments.

Outside of North Carolina, national Republicans and conservative activist and advocacy groups have distanced themselves from Robinson. In neighboring Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp withdrew his endorsement of Robinson on Monday. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, the chair of the Republican Governors Association, also pulled his endorsement and canceled a RGA fundraiser in Greensboro, North Carolina. The RGA confirmed to CNN it would not spend any more money in the governor’s race.

Other canceled events featuring Robinson include a since-removed fundraiser to support the Trump-Vance campaign in Wisconsin on September 29. An updated invitation online now reads, “Our earlier speaker cancelled, but we have secured a great Trump ally for this event! Stay tuned!”

Robinson was also scheduled to appear as the main speaker at a fundraiser for the conservative group Dakota First Action in October. Updated promotions for the event no longer feature Robinson, and the group has not responded to questions on whether he is still speaking.

An invite for a “get out the vote” rally with the Johnston County, North Carolina, GOP for October 3 was updated to remove Robinson.

Meanwhile, Robinson’s events page – which was once full of events – is currently blank.

The National Rifle Association is no longer running ads in support of Robinson or against his opponent, Attorney General Josh Stein, according to Facebook’s ad disclosure. Ads stopped last weekend, according to Facebook. The group did not return CNN’s request for comment.

CNN also reported on Monday that digital ads for Robinson had stopped over the weekend and have not since restarted.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.