RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republican gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson vowed on Thursday to remain in the race despite a CNN report that he posted strongly worded racial and sexual comments on an online message board, saying he won’t be forced out by “salacious tabloid lies.”
Robinson, the sitting lieutenant governor who decisively won his GOP gubernatorial primary in March, has been trailing in several recent polls to Democratic nominee Josh Stein, the current attorney general.
“We are staying in this race. We are in it to win it,” Robinson said in a video posted Thursday on the social media platform X. “And we know that with your help, we will.”
Robinson referenced in the video a story that he said CNN was running, but he didn't give details.
“Let me reassure you the things that you will see in that story — those are not the words of Mark Robinson," he said. "You know my words. You know my character.”
The CNN report describes a series of racial and sexual comments Robinson posted on the message board of a pornography website more than a decade ago.
CNN reported that Robinson, who would be North Carolina’s first Black governor, attacked civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in searing terms and once referred to himself as a “black NAZI.”
CNN also reported that Robinson wrote of being aroused by a memory of “peeping” women in gym showers when he was 14 along with an appreciation of transgender pornography. Robinson at one point referred to himself as a “perv,” according to CNN.
The Associated Press has not independently confirmed that Robinson wrote and posted the messages. CNN said it matched details of the account on the pornographic website forum to other online accounts held by Robinson by comparing usernames, a known email address and his full name.
CNN reported that details discussed by the account holder matched Robinson’s age, length of marriage and other biographical information. It also compared figures of speech that came up frequently in his public Twitter profile that appeared in discussions by the account on the pornographic website.
Media outlets already have reported about a 2021 speech by Robinson in a church in which he used the word “filth” when discussing gay and transgender people.
Robinson has a history of inflammatory comments that Stein had said made him too extreme to lead North Carolina. They already had contributed to the prospect that campaign struggles for Robinson would hurt former President Donald Trump to win the battleground state’s 16 electoral votes, and potential other GOP downballot candidates.
Recent polls of North Carolina voters show Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris locked in a close race. The same polls showed Stein with a roughly 10-point lead over Robinson.
Stein and his allies have cited repeatedly a Facebook post from 2019 in which Robinson said abortion in America was about “killing the child because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down.”
The Stein campaign said in a statement after the report that “North Carolinians already know Mark Robinson is completely unfit to be Governor.”
State law says a gubernatorial nominee could withdraw as a candidate no later than the day before the first absentee ballots requested by military and overseas voters are distributed. That begins Friday, so the withdrawal deadline would be late Thursday. State Republican leaders could then pick a replacement.
Trump has frequently voiced his support for Robinson, who has been considered a rising star in his party, well-known for his fiery speeches and evocative rhetoric. Ahead of the March primary, Trump at a rally in Greensboro called Robinson “Martin Luther King on steroids” for his speaking ability.
Trump’s campaign appears to be distancing itself from Robinson in the wake of the report. In a statement to the AP, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the GOP nominee’s campaign “is focused on winning the White House and saving this country,” calling North Carolina “a vital part of that plan.”
Leavitt went on to contrast Trump’s economic record with that of Harris, not mentioning Robinson by name or answering questions as to whether he would appear with Trump at a Saturday campaign rally in Wilmington, or had been invited to do so.
A spokesperson for Harris’ campaign, Ammar Moussa, said on X that “Donald Trump has a Mark Robinson problem” and reposted a photo of the two together.
Among North Carolina Republicans, spokespeople for the state GOP, House speaker and Senate leader didn’t immediately respond to emails, voicemails and texts Thursday seeking comment. Scott Lassiter, a Republican state Senate candidate in a Raleigh-area swing district, did call on Robinson to “suspend his campaign to allow a quality candidate to finish this race.”
Ed Broyhill, a North Carolina member of the Republican National Committee, said he spoke to Robinson Thursday afternoon and still supports him as the nominee. In an interview, Broyhill suggested the online details may have been fabricated.
“It seems like a dirty trick to me,” Broyhill said.
On Capitol Hill, U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chair of the House GOP’s campaign committee, told reporters the report’s findings were “concerning.” Robinson, he said, has some reassuring to do in the state.
Robinson, 56, was elected lieutenant governor in his first bid for public office in 2020. He tells a life story of childhood poverty, jobs that he blames the North American Free Trade Agreement for ending, and personal bankruptcy. His 4-minute speech to the Greensboro City Council defending gun rights and lamenting the “demonizing” of police officers went viral — and led him to a National Rifle Association board position and popularity among conservative voters.
Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard in Chapin, South Carolina, and Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.
FILE - North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Asheville, N.C., Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid is trying to believe in the good that can come from asking for help. Embiid’s career has yielded an MVP — and so many more DNPs — with a biography littered by the kind of devastating injuries that can, in time, heal.
Ask even the most casual 76ers fan, and they can rattle off a CliffsNotes version of Embiid’s injury timeline: The broken bones in his feet, the grotesque dislocated finger that made it resemble a used bendy drinking straw, the torn meniscus in his right knee, the torn ligament in a thumb, a bout with Bell’s palsy, and even his latest ailment — a busted sinus that compelled him to ask a media horde to cut the camera lights because of his sensitivity to the brightness beaming in his face.
Embiid played Friday night wearing a carbon graphite mask straight out of the “Phantom of the Opera” prop department. He needed the protection to save his face from another errant elbow, another sudden strike, that could thrust him into the kind of prolonged absence that has defined his star-crossed career.
With the 7-footer boasting a wingspan that could stretch a couple of Liberty Bells, his knack for knocking down spot-up 3s, Embiid's presence in the lineup is all that separates the Philadelphia 76ers from a playoff team and title contender to one drowning in the NBA standings.
He feels the burden. He understands the hardships.
Selected by the 76ers with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, Embiid carries the weight of expectations of Philly — and beyond — with him, and the injuries that sidelined the 2023 MVP and have denied him a real shot at being heralded as one of the NBA's greats have led him to admit the cracks they formed in his mental health was something he could no longer ignore.
So the native of Cameroon who once never believed in seeking help from others had decided over time — much like elite athletes Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka and retired swimmer Michael Phelps — to shake the once-taboo stigma of therapy and go all-in on the process to steer him through turbulent times in his professional career.
“It's kind of hard when you get in those moments where it's kind of hard not to feel bad about yourself, especially when you know who you are and what you can accomplish but it's not the way it is,” Embiid said. “One lesson that I learned is to try and stop feeling bad about myself and just live day-by-day. Enjoy good people around me, positivity and not focus on the negativity.”
Embiid has openly talked at times over the last year of feeling depressed from time on the shelf — he was sidelined for two full NBA seasons, and had chunks of so many others recovering, rehabbing, even resting — and this season was no different.
Embiid had his homegrown sidekick in All-Star Tyrese Maxey and nine-time All-Star Paul George along for the ride to form a kind of Big Three expected to challenge Boston, New York and Cleveland for Eastern Conference supremacy.
With all three walloped by injuries, they have played start-to-finish in all of two games this season.
Embiid slogged through headaches and dizziness to drop 34 points and led the 76ers past Charlotte on Friday night in a win that completed a 4-0 season sweep against the Hornets and propped the 76ers' record to a meager 9-16 overall.
“He does make the game so easy,” George said. “A lot of stuff was just plays we weren't in sync on. We'll get that as we're on the court more.”
The question again is raised around the NBA — what could the 76ers have accomplished had Embiid been healthy enough to always play 80 games a season?
As is the norm with Embiid, the two-time scoring champion will sit out the second game of a back-to-back Saturday at Cleveland.
“As long as it gets better every day,” Embiid said, “that'll be good.”
It's a modest goal as Embiid tries to make the days — using his word “manageable” — until perhaps it feels close to 100% in time for the playoffs.
His frankness in admitting he needed therapy belies a public persona of a 30-year-old who has delighted in playing the role of troll to needle rivals both in the locker room and on social media. Embiid — who signed a $193 million contract extension ahead of the season — has leaned on his wife and young son to push him through the hard days.
Embiid's a big brother to 20-somethings on the team like Maxey and rookie Jared McCain and he finally has a relatable peer this season in a fellow Olympic gold medalist George, who has had his own career interrupted by catastrophic injuries.
“You can never get enough of the support,” Embiid said. “If I'm being honest, when you've got the support from your family, people close to you, teammates, guys like (George), that's the reason why you want to keep doing it and you want to keep figuring it out. That's who you play for. The people who care about you, people that support you, people that push you. I have a hard time disappointing people, which I'm working on. When you've got that type of support, it's kind of hard to feel bad about yourself. I like to please people. You've just got to keep going.”
Keep going.
It's all Embiid can do now to find happiness on the court and in his personal life — and find some peace through treatment along the way.
He can at least improve his state of mind, even if the state of his body takes longer to heal.
“It's a work in progress. We'll see if it works," Embiid said. "You get to a point where nothing is working, I'm always willing to try anything and see if it works.”
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid left, tries to go up for a shot against Charlotte Hornets' Vasilije Micic during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid walks the court during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid, left, goes up for a shot against Charlotte Hornets' Moussa Diabate during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid holds the ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid reacts after being fouled during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
