Mark Robinson Update as Embattled Republican Hires Law Group

Mark Robinson, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor and embattled Trump-endorsed GOP gubernatorial candidate, said he has hired a law group to examine the “outrageous lies from CNN” amid the fallout from the news outlet’s bombshell report alleging Robinson made sexually explicit and racial comments on a porn website years ago.
In a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday evening, Robinson’s campaign said, in part, “Today, the Mark Robinson for Governor campaign announced the hiring of the Binnall Law Group to lead the efforts to investigate the outrageous lies from CNN’s latest smear of Lieutenant Governor and Republican nominee for Governor Mark Robinson.”
In the post, Robinson added, “I am confident that Binnall Law Group will leave no stone unturned and enable us to use every legal means to hold CNN accountable for their lies.”
Newsweek reached out to Robinson’s campaign via email Tuesday night for comment. In response, the campaign sent its announcement.
Last week, Robinson’s campaign was rocked by CNN’s report alleging that he made multiple comments on porn website Nude Africa’s message board, including calling himself a “black NAZI” and discussing his affinity for watching transgender pornography.
CNN reported that Robinson allegedly posted, “I like watching tranny on girl porn! That’s f*****g hot! It takes the man out while leaving the man in!”
Robinson also allegedly wrote: “And yeah I’m a ‘perv’ too!”
CNN said Robinson’s comments were made from 2008 to 2012. Robinson officially entered politics in 2019 when he launched his campaign for lieutenant governor.
In the aftermath of the report, the Trump-backed Robinson has faced fierce backlash. On Friday, North Carolina’s top Republican Senator Thom Tillis said on X, “If the reporting on Mark Robinson is a total media fabrication, he needs to take immediate legal action. If the reporting is true, he owes it to [former] President [Donald] Trump and every Republican to take accountability for his actions and put the future of NC & our party before himself.”
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has not made a public comment about Robinson since the report, and when previously asked about it by Newsweek, the Trump campaign pointed to a statement from spokesperson Karoline Leavitt saying that Trump was “focused on winning the White House and saving this country” and “North Carolina is a vital part of this plan” but did not mention Robinson.
JD Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio and Trump’s running mate, was also asked about the report on Robinson at a campaign event in Pennsylvania over the weekend, and whether he was “comfortable” with Robinson being the candidate. Vance responded, “It’s ultimately up to Mark Robinson and North Carolina whether he’s going to be their governor and whether he wants to stay in the race.”
Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg told Newsweek via X on Tuesday that Robinson’s “options are very limited” when asked about Robinson’s political future. “Drop out or face a humiliating defeat,” Aronberg added. “He missed a deadline for dropping out, but his coming defeat will make it almost impossible to run for any significant office ever again.”
Update: 09/24/24, 9:48 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Aronberg.