Despite Graham’s pleas, there are extensive documented ties between the two candidates. Trump has held campaign rallies with Robinson, calling him “Martin Luther King on steroids” in March.
Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, complained on Monday that members of the media deigned to ask him about Robinson at a campaign stop.
“What he said or didn’t say is between him and the people of North Carolina,” Vance said.
Vance admitted that some of the porn-site comments attributed to Robinson are “pretty gross” but added, “I really cannot believe that the American media is so much more focused on this than on the struggles of their fellow citizens.”
Since the CNN report, Robinson’s campaign is in disarray. Several top staffers have quit, despite the fact that they signed on to help Robinson win his race when his derogatory comments about LGBTQ+ people and gun violence survivors were already public knowledge.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, head of the Republican Governors Association, announced on Monday that he had withdrawn his endorsement of Robinson. The organization had been running advertisements supporting the candidate, but Lee said it would cease.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, another Republican, also pulled his support for Robinson on Monday.
Following CNN’s report, Robinson floated the theory that the posts had been created using artificial intelligence. But former staffers told North Carolina outlet WRAL that Robinson rejected offers from tech specialists to investigate his claim—raising suspicions of his evidence-free defense.
Also on Monday, Politico reported that the porn-site account linked to Robinson could be traced to an internet address near the candidate’s home.
A spokesperson for Robinson has said that he is “in the process of retaining aggressive legal counsel” to investigate “who did this and how,” and raised the specter of legal action against CNN for their reporting.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, the Democratic candidate for governor, told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Monday that Robinson was “unfit” to be governor.
“Mark Robinson has revealed himself to be absolutely unfit to be governor, unacceptable for any elected position,” Stein said. “And this was true before last week’s story broke, and yet practically every Republican running for office in the Legislature and above in North Carolina have endorsed him.”
A new poll released by Elon University on Tuesday showed Stein with a significant lead over Robinson, 49% to 35%. The poll also found the race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris essentially tied.
North Carolina, with its 15 electoral votes, is a key swing state in 2024. In 2020, the state backed Trump by a narrow margin over President Joe Biden (1.35 percentage points). Trump’s margin of victory in 2016 over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was higher (3.66 points). Voters there also narrowly supported then-Sen. Barack Obama in 2008 in his victory over Sen. John McCain.
