Well, it looks like the political drama in North Carolina just got a whole lot messier. CNN dropped a bombshell report identifying Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor, as the alleged user behind a disturbing account on an “adult” message board. The report, compiled by Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck, claims that Robinson—through an account called “minisoldr”—posted some seriously inappropriate and eyebrow-raising content more than a decade ago. And let’s just say, it’s not what you want coming out when you’re trying to run for governor.
According to CNN, “minisoldr” wasn’t just dabbling in controversial territory. We’re talking posts about watching transgender adult videos, bragging about peeping on women showering in a public gym when he was a teenager, and even some stomach-turning comments about Hitler and slavery. The account, allegedly tied to Robinson, called himself a “Black Nazi” and even wrote that if slavery were legal again, he’d buy slaves.
Naturally, Robinson has come out swinging, calling the report nothing more than “salacious tabloid trash.” In a video posted to X (formerly Twitter) just before CNN dropped the story, Robinson completely denied the allegations, saying, “These are not the words of Mark Robinson.” He didn’t just stop there—he pointed fingers, accusing his political opponent, Democratic nominee Josh Stein, of leaking the story to CNN to try and sabotage his campaign. Robinson has framed this as a smear job, part of the dirty politics he claims has been weaponized against him since the race began.
I wanted to take a minute to address the latest outrageous lies coming from my opponent’s dishonest campaign: #ncgov #ncpol pic.twitter.com/RtteVUiozr
— Mark Robinson (@markrobinsonNC) September 19, 2024
While it’s no shock that campaigns get ugly, this particular revelation is a new level of ugly. CNN claims to have tracked Robinson’s digital footprint across various platforms, linking his email and online handle to not just one shady site but multiple accounts on sites like Twitter, YouTube, and Disqus. The common alias, “minisoldr,” and identical language used in both salacious and non-salacious posts tie the two personas together, according to CNN’s findings.
Whether this scandal will sink Robinson’s campaign remains to be seen. But it’s clear that, in a political climate already steeped in controversy, this is going to be a tough one to shake. If Robinson thought his path to the governor’s mansion was going to be smooth, this report just turned it into a rocky road full of potholes.