Top North Carolina Republicans are calling on Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, currently running for governor in the state, to show evidence supporting his rejection of several reports linking him to an account on a pornography website that made salacious comments, including calling himself a "black NAZI."
Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd made the calls, with the former saying that "if the reporting on Mark Robinson is a total media fabrication, he needs to take immediate legal action." State party chair Jason Simmons, on his end, said in a statement that the accusations are "deeply troubling" and "he needs to explain them to the people of North Carolina."
Robinson has not filed lawsuits related to the allegations. He fervently denies them and said on Monday that he is considering "everything up to legal counsel to take CNN to task for what they have done to us." WRAL reported that he rejected offers from supporters to be connected with experts who could help him investigate the posts.
Former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Robinson, has not commented on the reports. He didn't mention him either during a rally in the state in the weekend, and Robinson was not present at the event.
User data reviewed by POLITICO indicates that an account reportedly belonging to Robinson on the pornographic website "Nude Africa" was accessed from a location near his home. Additionally, Robinson's email address was found registered on multiple dating websites, including Fling and Ashley Madison (used for people seeking extramarital affairs) according to previously unreported findings.
Other allegations from a CNN report include include claims from a CNN report that he identified as a "black NAZI," viewed transgender pornography, and made explicit comments on sexual preferences more than a decade ago on Nude Africa.
The Republican Governors Association has not placed additional ad reservations on Robinson's behalf after spending some $16 million, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact. His opponent, Democrat Josh Stein still has booked $13 million worth of adds in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, several top aides for Robinson have quit the campaign over the weekend: top adviser Conrad Pogorzelski; Chris Rodriguez, campaign manager; Heather Whillier, finance director; and Jason Rizk, deputy campaign manager, "have stepped down from their roles with the campaign," the candidate said.
Recent polling shows Robinson trailing Stein by double digits. The latest survey in FiveThirtyEight's tracker featured a The New York Times/Siena College where Stein had an 11-point lead among 682 registered voters, with 47% of the support compared to Robinson's 36%.
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