As Republicans Abandon Mark Robinson, JD Vance Downplays Scandal

If North Carolina Gov. Mark Robinson had hoped last week’s accusations would be a one-night stand, the right-wing Republican learned otherwise. Indeed, while a devastating CNN report sparked the gubernatorial candidate’s latest scandal, similar reports soon followed.

Politico, for example, published a report alleging that an email address belonging to Robinson “was registered to Ashley Madison, a website designed for married people seeking affairs.” A day later, The Washington Post reported that “a user of a porn site associated with North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson praised Adolf Hitler’s book ‘Mein Kampf.’”

Earlier this week, Politico also reported that user data showed that “an individual using the ‘Nude Africa’ account, which allegedly belonged to Robinson, accessed the pornography site from a location near Robinson’s home.”

And while MSNBC and NBC News have not independently verified any of the reports, and the extremist candidate denies the allegations, many Republicans have found the carefully reported allegations credible. Indeed, much of Robinson’s campaign staff — who were apparently unconcerned by earlier revelations about the radical candidate — have resigned en masse in recent days.

They’re not the only ones jumping ship. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, the senior senator from Robinson’s home state, suggested this week that he wouldn’t vote for his party’s candidate for governor. At the same time, two Republican governors — Brian Kemp of Georgia and Bill Lee of Tennessee — announced they were withdrawing their earlier support for Robinson.

If that weren’t enough, the Republican Governors Association said in a statement that its ads supporting Robinson are nearing expiration — and “no new spots have been organized.”

The gubernatorial candidate can, however, take comfort in the thought that Donald Trump and JD Vance still haven’t abandoned him.

On Sunday, the Ohio senator said Robinson’s accusations were “not necessarily true,” and The Charlotte Observer reported that the Republican vice presidential nominee made similar comments a day later.

“What (Robinson) said or didn’t say is ultimately between him and the people of North Carolina,” Vance told a reporter at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte. Asked by another reporter if he would continue to support Robinson’s campaign, Vance said he would “continue to support the people of North Carolina.” When a third reporter asked if that meant the Trump campaign would withdraw its support for Robinson, the crowd loudly booed, and Vance gave a similar answer.

During the same question-and-answer session, Vance decried the media attention paid to the Robinson scandal, repeatedly downplaying the whole mess as a “sex scandal.”

I understand how the senator came to that conclusion — if the allegations are true, Robinson posted disgusting comments on a pornography website — but I also think it’s fair to say that “sex scandal” doesn’t quite capture the full scope of the controversy.

After all, we are talking about a right-wing candidate who, according to reports, described himself as a “Nazi,” claimed that slavery was not necessarily “bad” and, among other things, had a positive opinion of Hitler’s book.

We’ve all seen plenty of politicians embroiled in “sex scandals.” This is… something else.

Robinson, for his part, told reporters he intends to go after news organizations like CNN “with full force.” Watch this space.