GOP senator suggests Mark Robinson should take legal action or leave the race

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) suggested that North Carolina’s GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson should take legal action against the media or exit the race. 

“If the reporting on Mark Robinson is a total media fabrication, he needs to take immediate legal action,” Tillis said in a Friday post on X. “If the reporting is true, he owes it to President Trump and every Republican to take accountability for his actions and put the future of NC & our party before himself.” 

Tillis’s remarks on social media come a day after an explosive CNN report revealed Robinson made a wide range of inflammatory comments on a porn site over 10 years ago, including saying that he is a “black NAZI” and calling for slavery to be brought back. CNN reported that Robinson made those comments between 2008 and 2012 on a website called “Nude Africa.”

“Slavery is not bad. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it [slavery] back. I would certainly buy a few,” he said, according to CNN. 

Robinson said the story was false and vowed to remain in the race.

“Let me assure you, the things you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson,” Robinson said in a video posted on X. The video was shared shortly before CNN published the report. 

“You know my words. You know my character, and you know that I have been completely transparent in this race and before,” he added. “We are staying in this race. We are in it to win it.” 

Tillis’s initial public reaction to the CNN story came Thursday night. The Republican senator did not directly address the content of the story, but warned that if Vice President Harris, the Democratic nominee, wins North Carolina, she would become the next president of the U.S. 

“It was a tough day, but we must stay focused on the races we can win,” Tillis said in a Friday night statement on X. “We have to make sure President Trump wins NC and support the outstanding GOP candidates running for key NCGA and judicial races. If Harris takes NC, she takes the White House. We can’t let that happen.”

North Carolina’s Republican Party defended Robinson on Thursday, alleging that the “Left” is “demonizing” Robison and that it wants to shift the focus on the race from policy to a “personality contest.” 

Robinson, who was endorsed by former President Trump, the GOP nominee, is running against Democratic candidate Josh Stein who has been leading in the majority of latest polls. Robinson will not attend Trump’s Saturday rally in the state, according to a source familiar with the matter. The GOP gubernatorial candidate was at the ex-president’s rally in The Tar Heel State last month. 

The Hill has reached out to Robinson’s campaign for comment.