Several Mark Robinson campaign staffers have resigned amid ongoing fallout from online posts

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Several top staffers for Republican Gov. Mark Robinson of North Carolina’s campaign have resigned, sending shockwaves to the brink of further disruption CNN report presenting evidence that he posted disturbing posts on a pornographic website forum greater than a decade ago.

The campaign said in a press release Sunday that senior adviser Conrad Pogorzelski III, campaign manager Chris Rodriguez, the campaign’s finance director and deputy campaign manager “have all resigned from their roles with the campaign.” Information in regards to the recent campaign hires might be released soon, the discharge said.

“I appreciate the efforts of those team members who made the difficult decision to withdraw from the campaign, and I wish them well in their future endeavors,” Robinson said in a press release.

Pogorzelski, who helped Robinson win the lieutenant governor position in 2020 in his first campaign for public office and later became his chief of staff, said individually Sunday that other employees — a deputy finance director, two political directors and a chief operating officer — had also left the campaign.

Pogorzelski wrote within the text that “he and others from the campaign left of their own free will.”

A CNN report on Thursday revealed earlier posts Robinson says he made on the porn site’s message boards. In those posts, he referred to himself as a “black NAZI,” said he liked transgender porn, said in 2012 that he preferred Hitler to then-President Barack Obama and lambasted the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., calling him “worse than a bug.”

Robinson denied writing the posts and said Thursday that he wouldn’t be forced out of the race by “sordid tabloid lies.” He avoided direct discussion of the controversy during a gubernatorial campaign event Saturday night on the Fayetteville Raceway. The event got here after earlier within the day President Donald Trump made no mention of Robinson on the rally held about 90 miles (145 kilometers) away in Wilmington.

Before Saturday, Robinson was a frequent guest at Trump campaign stops in North Carolina. The Republican presidential candidate has long praised Robinson — who, if elected, can be North Carolina’s first black governor — calling him “Martin Luther King on steroids” for his speaking style.

Robinson on Sunday continued to precise optimism that he could beat Democratic candidate Josh Stein, the incumbent attorney general, in November. Polls showed Robinson trailing Stein.

Still, Robinson said polls have “underestimated support for Republicans in North Carolina for several cycles,” and with a big portion of the electorate undecided, “I am confident that our campaign remains in a strong position to make our case to voters and win on November 5.”

Robinson has a history of creating provocative comments, equivalent to suggesting that girls who sought abortions “weren’t responsible enough to keep their skirts down” and comparing abortion to slavery.

Elections

Stein said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Robinson “is completely incompetent and unfit to be governor of North Carolina, and we will do everything in our power to prevent that from happening.”

Polls show Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in a detailed race in North Carolina and nationally. Democrats have seized the chance to spotlight Trump’s ties to Robinson, with billboards showing them together and a brand new Harris campaign ad highlighting the GOP candidate’s ties in addition to Robinson’s support for a statewide abortion ban without exception.

On Sunday, Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Robinson deserves a likelihood to defend himself against the allegations, which Graham described as “troubling.” He said Robinson is a “political zombie if he doesn’t put forth a credible defense,” while arguing that the problem won’t hurt Trump.

“If they’re true, he’s unfit to hold office,” Graham said of Robinson and the claims within the CNN report. “If they’re not true, he’s got the biggest defamation lawsuit in the history of the country.”