Several Mark Robinson campaign staffers quit as fallout over online posts continues

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Several top staffers in North Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson's campaign for governor have left their posts, marking more fallout from a CNN report outlining evidence that he made disturbing posts on a pornography website’s message board more than a decade ago.

The campaign said in a news release Sunday that senior adviser Conrad Pogorzelski III, campaign manager Chris Rodriguez, the campaign's finance director and a deputy campaign manager “have stepped down from their roles with the campaign.” Information on new campaign staffers would be forthcoming soon, the release said.

“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," Robinson said in the release.

Pogorzelski, who helped Robinson become lieutenant governor in 2020 in his first bid for elected office and later became his chief of staff, said separately on Sunday that additional staffers also left the campaign, including the deputy finance director, two political directors and the director of operations.

Pogorzelski, in a text, said that he “along with other from the campaign have left of our own accord."

The CNN report on Thursday unearthed posts it said Robinson left on a porn site’s message boards more than a decade ago in which he referred to himself as a “black NAZI,” said in 2012 he preferred Hitler to then-President Barack Obama, slammed the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as “worse than a maggot” and said he enjoyed transgender pornography.

Robinson denied writing the posts and said Thursday that he wouldn’t be forced out of the race by “salacious tabloid lies.” He avoided directly discussing the controversy during a gubernatorial campaign event on Saturday evening at a race track in Fayetteville. The event happened after earlier in the day former President Donald Trump didn't mention Robinson at a rally about 90 miles (145 kilometers) away in Wilmington.

Before Saturday, Robinson had been a frequent presence at Trump’s North Carolina campaign stops. The Republican presidential nominee has long praised Robinson — who would be North Carolina's first Black governor if elected — calling him “Martin Luther King on steroids” for his speaking style.

On Sunday, Robinson still expressed optimism that he could win in November over Democratic nominee Josh Stein, the sitting attorney general. Polls have shown Robinson trailing Stein.

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

Robinson has a long history of making inflammatory comments, including suggesting women who sought abortion “weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down” and comparing abortion to slavery.

Stein said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Robinson is “utterly unqualified, unfit to be the governor of North Carolina, and we’re going to do everything in our power to keep that from happening.”

Polls show Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris locked in a close race in North Carolina and nationally. Democrats have seized on the opportunity to highlight Trump’s ties to Robinson, with billboards showing the two together and a new ad from Harris’ campaign highlighting the Republican candidates’ ties, as well as Robinson’s support for a statewide abortion ban without exceptions.

On Sunday, Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Robinson deserves a chance to defend himself against the allegations, which Graham described as “unnerving.” He said Robinson is “a political zombie if he does not offer a defense to this that’s credible,” while arguing the issue wouldn’t hurt Trump.

“If they’re true, he’s unfit to serve for office,” Graham said of Robinson and the claims in the CNN report. “If they’re not true, he has the best lawsuit in the history of the country for libel.”

__

Associated Press writer Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.