Four key staffers on the North Carolina gubernatorial campaign of Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson have stepped down following a bombshell report about his disturbing activity on an online pornography forum, including referring to himself as a “black NAZI.”
Robinson’s campaign announced the major shakeup on Sunday. The departing aides were identified as Conrad Pogorzelski III, general consultant and senior advisor; Chris Rodriguez, campaign manager; Heather Whillier, finance director; and Jason Rizk, deputy campaign manager.
The lieutenant governor was quoted in a campaign press release as saying he appreciated the efforts of “these team members who have made the difficult choice to step away from the campaign, and I wish them well in their future endeavors.”
He added that more information about new staff roles would be announced “in the coming days.”
The mass exodus comes three days after scandal engulfed Robinson’s campaign, with CNN reporting that he had used a porn forum to defend slavery, call the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. a “commie bastard,” and detail a salacious affair with his wife’s sister.
A followup report from The Washington Post showed that he’d further used the site to praise Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as a “good read” and “a real eye opener.”
Minutes before the original report was published, Robinson released a video statement denouncing the allegations as nothing more than “salacious, tabloid trash.
“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, and you know that I have been completely transparent in this race and before.”
With the gubernatorial election a little over six weeks away, Robinson vowed to remain in the race.
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson joins the stage with former U.S. President Donald Trump during a rally at The Farm at 95 on April 9, 2022 in Selma, North Carolina.
Allison Joyce/Getty Images
He reiterated that intention in Sunday’s press release.
“My campaign will continue to focus on the substantive issues at stake in this election: building an economy that grows from Murphy to Manteo; cutting taxes and eliminating unnecessary red-tape; removing politics out of our classrooms; and cracking down on violent crime and dangerous drugs,” he said.
“Polls have consistently underestimated Republican support in North Carolina for several cycles now and with a large portion of the electorate still undecided as we continue to ramp up our efforts across the state, I am confident our campaign remains in a strong position to make our case to the voters and win on November 5.”
Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly praised Robinson in recent months, once referring to him as “Martin Luther King on steroids” and “Martin Luther King times two.” He had not publicly reacted to the CNN story as of Sunday.