Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor in North Carolina was exposed Thursday afternoon for an extensive comment history on a pornography forum called “Nude Africa” where he called himself a “Black Nazi,” attacked Martin Luther King Jr. repeatedly, and even talked about buying slaves if it became legal again.
“Slavery is not bad. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it back. I would certainly buy a few,” Robinson wrote under the username minisoldr.
The report came out on Thursday, which is the state deadline for a candidate to withdraw from the race. Before CNN published the story, North Carolina media reported about pressure on the candidate from the Trump campaign to drop out of the race.
As the story dropped, Robinson put out a recorded statement on his X account denying that the account was him and emphasizing that he’d stay in the race.
“Let me reassure you, the things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson. You know my words, you know my character, and you know that I have been completely transparent in this race and before.”
Online, endorsements for Robinson from former President Donald Trump quickly resurfaced as posters gleefully juxtaposed the glowing terms Trump described Robinson in with his forum comment history.
“This is Martin Luther King on steroids,” Trump told a crowd in Greensboro, North Carolina. “I told that to Mark, I said I think you’re better than Martin Luther King. I think you are Martin Luther King times two.”
Apparently Robinson, who called King a “commie bastard,” “worse than a maggot,” a “ho f**king, phony,” and a “huckster” on Nude Africa, as well as saying that “If I was in the KKK I would have called him Martin Lucifer Koon!” didn’t take Trump’s comparison too favorably, something it seems like Trump picked up on at the time.
“Was he angry? Because that’s a terrible thing to say, or was he complimented?” Trump asked. “I have never figured it out … when I said that to you, you looked like, ‘I don’t know if I liked that comment.’ You should like it.”
Posters also shared photos of Trump posing happily alongside Trump, trying to preempt any potential disavowal of Robinson by the presidential candidate.
“Donald Trump and Mark Robinson have been all over the trail together this cycle. Trump elevated and endorsed this man at every opportunity,” posted @SarafinaChitika. “There’s no running away from this for @realDonaldTrump.”
“For no particular reason, here’s some photos of Mark Robinson with the man who endorsed him earlier this year!” posted @cjcoreschi over photos of Trump and Robinson shaking hands, standing onstage together, and mugging for the camera at campaign stops.
The Harris campaign also jumped on the moment, posting a video of Trump praising Robinson at a campaign stop.
“We have to cherish Mark Robinson. You have to cherish him,” Trump said. “He’s like a fine wine. He’s an outstanding person. I’ve gotten to know him so well.”
Donald Senior wasn’t the only one to praise Robinson.
“He’s a fun guy,” Donald Trump Jr. said on his Rumble show ahead of the Republican primary in March. “A good guy, funny guy, not afraid to say what he’s thinking which I think we need more of.”
And Eric Trump got into the act too.
“We know Mark very well. Amazing, amazing guy … Mark is a wonderful person, a wonderful guy, a person I’ve got to know very very well,” he said in a video Robinson’s campaign posted on his Instagram page a couple of weeks ago.
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