Robinson ‘unacceptable for any elected position,’ North Carolina AG says

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein (D) criticized Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s fitness for office in an interview Monday.

“Mark Robinson has revealed himself to be absolutely unfit to be governor, unacceptable for any elected position,” Stein said in the interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on her show. “I don’t care what office it is, but let alone governor.”

“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,” Stein added.

Stein and Robinson are battling it out for the governorship of the Tar Heel State.

A bombshell report on Robinson from CNN last week shook up the race when it revealed inflammatory comments he reportedly made on a porn website’s message board more than 10 years ago. Among them, he called himself a “black NAZI.”

“Former President Trump has endorsed him,” Stein told Maddow. “Not a single Republican in North Carolina has rescinded his or her endorsement of Mark Robinson.”

Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis has indicated he will not vote for Robinson and noted he won’t campaign with him.

A Sunday release from Robinson’s campaign stated that key aides, including his campaign manager and a finance director, had “stepped down from their roles.”

“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. “I look forward to announcing new staff roles in the coming days.”

Matt Mercer, a communications director with the North Carolina Republican Party, said in an email to The Hill that, “Josh Stein failed North Carolina families for eight years as Attorney General.

“He is responsible for increases in violent crime in our cities, including instances of rape,” Mercer continued.

Mike Lonergan, a communications director for Robinson’s campaign, sent The Hill an email featuring some of the same text from a previous email in which he said that North Carolinians “have had enough lies from career politicians like Josh Stein – and that’s why they’ll elect Mark Robinson governor on November 5.”

The Hill has reached out to former President Trump’s campaign.

Updated at 12:57 p.m.