Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, R-N.C., has survived scandals over defending the Kent State Massacre, describing the civil rights movement as a communist plot to "subvert capitalism" and comparing homosexuality to cow manure. But it's the candidate's vulgar, racist comments on a pornographic forum called "Nude Africa" — revealed last Thursday by CNN — that was too much for most of his staff.
According to a campaign press release on Sunday, Robinson's top four staffers have quit working for him: Conrad Pogorzelski, a political consultant who's worked for Robinson since 2020; Chris Rodriguez, his campaign manager; Heather Whillier, his finance director; and Jason Rizk, his deputy campaign manager.
North Carolina Public Radio reported that other staffers such as political director Patrick Riley also joined the exodus, leaving only two campaign spokespeople and a bodyguard remaining on Robinson's full-time payroll.
Sunday's press release said that new staff would be hired in the "coming days," the Robinson campaign left scrambling just six weeks before the election. That's not the only fallout from the CNN report, which revealed a slew of comments by a user named "Mark Robinson" on Nude Africa between 2008 and 2012. Among other things, Robinson described himself as a "Black NAZI," called for the reinstatement of slavery, expressed pleasure over watching transgender pornography and described a time he spied on women taking showers in a locker room.
Though Robinson denied making those comments, CNN found that the profile on Nude Africa used the same alias and email address used by the gubernatorial candidate across his other social media platforms. Other comments by the profile also revealed personal details that match the biography of Robinson, who is currently the lieutenant governor of North Carolina.
Robinson's comments have split Republican officials, who must decide whether to keep their distance, cautiously express concern, privately urge him to suspend his campaign or, like the North Carolina GOP, defend the candidate against "the Left's" attempts to "demonize him via personal attacks."
Robinson himself has remained defiant and is continuing to hold campaign events. In a statement, he thanked his departing staff.
"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," he said.
