GOP lawmakers raise pressure on Mark Robinson over report

Senators in his own party expressed concern Sunday about the scathing report on North Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, Mark Robinson, acknowledging the grave allegations against Donald Trump’s preferred candidate.

“The charges are beyond unnerving. If they’re true, he’s unfit to serve for office,” Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “If they’re not true, he has the best lawsuit in the history of the country, for libel.”

CNN reported that Robinson posted sexually explicit and hateful messages on an adult website, referring to himself as a “Black Nazi” and talking about secretly watching young women shower. The report says he also expressed support for reinstating slavery. Robinson has denied he made any of the reported statements.

Four top campaign officials resigned on Sunday in the wake of the report and its backlash, CNN reported citing a statement from the campaign. The operatives who left include a senior adviser, campaign manager and finance director.

Trump has endorsed Robinson, though he didn’t mention his name or any of the reported details at a rally in the state on Saturday. Robinson, who is the sitting lieutenant governor, wasn’t seen in attendance at the event in Wilmington.

North Carolina was considered a solid Republican state for the presidential election just a few months ago. Kamala Harris’ entrance into the race has since erased Trump’s lead in the state, with 538’s average of state and national polls showing the two candidates neck-and-neck.

Graham said Robinson deserves a chance to defend himself. “I don’t think this hurts Trump. But as to Robinson, he’s a political zombie if he does not offer a defense to this that’s credible,” Graham said.

“He owes the people of North Carolina more answers about it,” Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, said on CNN’s State of the Union. Cotton called the allegations “concerning.”

Robinson is facing off against Democrat Josh Stein, the state’s attorney general. Polling in the gubernatorial race has shown Stein consistently ahead of Robinson, leading him by 13 percentage points among likely voters in a Morning Consult poll conducted Sept. 9-18.

“This man is utterly unqualified, unfit to be the governor of North Carolina, and we’re going to do everything in our power to keep that from happening,” Stein said Sunday on State of the Union.