North Carolina GOP gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson said Thursday that he’s not dropping out of his race amid reports of a bombshell story coming later in the day relating to his alleged activity on adult websites in the 2000s.
“Let me reassure you, the things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson,” he says in a video statement provided to the conservative news outlet National Review. “You know my words. You know my character. And you know that I have been completely transparent in this race and before.”
Robinson, who is currently the state’s lieutenant governor, didn’t shed any light on what is coming in the news report. But he blamed the media and his Democratic opponent, Attorney General Josh Stein, for spreading lies.
“Our opponents are desperate to shift the focus here from the substantive issues and focus on what you are concerned with to salacious, tabloid trash,” he says in the video clip. “We cannot allow that to happen.”
Robinson compared himself to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, saying that he, too, is the “victim of a high-tech lynching.” This is how Thomas characterized the attacks he faced during his 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearing amid allegations of sexual harassment by Anita Hill.
“Clarence Thomas famously once said he was the victim of a high-tech lynching,” Robinson said. “Well, it looks like Mark Robinson is, too.”
“We are staying in this race. We are in it to win it,” he added. “God bless you. And we will see you where? On the campaign trial.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
