Republican Rep. Mark Robinson's bid for governor of North Carolina suffered another blow this weekend when four senior campaign staffers resigned following CNN's revelations that they were the owners of accounts on an online pornography message board that featured racist and sexually explicit posts.
The four staffers resigned on Sunday, just three days after the report and Mark Robinson's refusal to withdraw from the race.
“According to a press release from the Robinson campaign, Robinson's general consultant and senior advisor Konrad Pogorzelski III, campaign manager Chris Rodriguez, finance director Heather Willier and deputy campaign manager Jason Rizk resigned just weeks before the election.” Reported POLITICO.
“Additional staff members from the campaign will be announced in the coming days,” the campaign said in a press release.
“I thank my team members for their hard work in making the difficult decision to step away from the campaign and wish them the best in their future endeavors,” Robinson said in a statement, adding that his campaign “will remain focused on the substantive issues at stake in this election.”
Robinson has refused to drop out of the race, even going so far as to say in a statement that polls have “consistently underestimated” Republican support in North Carolina.
“Folks, the news media is at it again. My opponent is at it again. You've seen Josh Stein's half-truths and outright lies over and over again in these ads, and now the story he leaked to CNN is now being made public,” he said.
“Rest assured, what you will see in this article are not Mark Robinson's words. You know my words, you know my character and you know I have been fully transparent in this campaign and before,” he added.
So Report According to CNN's Andrew Kaczynski and M. Steck, Robinson was identified as the owner of an account called “minisoldr” on the pornographic website Nude Africa. According to Breitbart News:
Between 2008 and 2012, “minisoldr” posted sexually-themed messages on the Nude Africa message board, including about his love of transgender porn and his memories of peeping into women's changing rooms.
“I love watching trans on girl porn! So hot! Leave the guy in and let the guy out!,” minisoldr once wrote. “And yes, I'm a 'pervert' too!”
The account user, who gave his full name as Mark Robinson, also said he fondly recalled seeing women showering in a public gym when he was 14.
Republicans are stepping up calls for Mark Robinson to drop out of the race.
“I believe Mark Robinson should be given an opportunity to defend himself. The charges are beyond disturbing,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina). “If they're true, he's unfit to hold public office. If they're not true, this is the biggest defamation lawsuit in the history of our country. He claims they were contrived and that CNN ran them as if they were true. Did NBC admit this?”
