North Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson loses staff, ad buys after racist remarks

Editor’s Note: This article contains highly offensive language.

Washington — North Carolina Republican Lieutenant Governor Mark RobinsonDonald Trump’s campaign for governor is losing staff and ad buys for him are being cut after a CNN investigation found he posted a series of inflammatory, graphic and racist comments on a pornographic website more than a decade ago.

The reportwhich Robinson denies has tipped the gubernatorial race as North Carolinians are set to begin voting this week, when mail-in ballots are sent out. His opponent in the race is North Carolina Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein.

Last Friday, Robinson’s campaign announced that its campaign manager, general consultant and senior adviser, finance director and deputy campaign manager had all resigned from their campaign roles, cutting key staff. And on Monday, the Republican Governors Association told National Review that its ad buys for Robinson in the state ended Tuesday, with no further placements at this time. Both moves are major blows to a campaign that was struggling in the polls before CNN’s investigation toppled it.

“We do not comment on internal strategy or investment decisions, but we can confirm what is public: Our current media buy in North Carolina expires tomorrow and no further placements have been made,” said RGA Communications Director Courtney Alexander. “RGA remains committed to electing Republican governors across the country.”

Robinson acknowledged the departure of his top campaign aides on Friday, following CNN’s report Thursday.

“I appreciate the efforts of those 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 a statement. “I look forward to announcing the new staff positions in the coming days.”

At an event in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, over the weekend, Robinson insisted his campaign would continue and rejected calls to drop out of the race.

“We’re confident we can keep going,” he told reporters. “We’re getting resumes from everywhere. We’re getting offers from everywhere. People are rushing to help us. We’ve made a lot of friends since we’ve been here. A lot of talented people are reaching out to us right now, and we’re building a team that we know can still lead us to victory.”

CNN’s report focused on comments made by an account under the name “minisoldr” on a pornographic website called Nude Africa between 2008 and 2012. The account used the name “Mark Robinson” in its profile, and a number of biographical details posted by the account match Robinson’s own story, according to CNN. The network reported that Robinson appeared to have used the account name on other platforms over the years, including YouTube and Pinterest, and that the email address associated with the account belonged to Robinson.

“What you’ll see in this story are not Mark Robinson’s words,” Robinson said in a video statement last week. “You know my words, you know my character, and you know that I’ve been completely transparent in this race and before.”

On the Nude Africa forum, the user expressed his desire to “bring back (slavery)” and “buy some” slaves, while identifying himself as a “black NAZI,” according to CNN.

“Slavery is not a bad thing. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it back (slavery). I would definitely buy a few,” the account wrote during a discussion about black Republicans in 2010, according to CNN.

Former President Donald Trump visited North Carolina, a key swing state, over the weekend and made no mention of Robinson. Trump has endorsed Robinson in the past, backing his run for governor. In March, Trump hailed Robinson as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”

Minisoldr used racist language to vilify civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr.

“I’m not in the KKK. They don’t let black people join the movement. If I was in the KKK I would have called him Martin Lucifer Koon!” he wrote in October 2011, according to CNN.

contributed to this report.