You may or may not have heard of Mark Robinson, the GOP nominee for governor in North Carolina and one of the keynote speakers at the first night of the Republican National Convention. So while Robinson might read from a script tonight, his history of speaking freely paints the picture of a man with hatred in his heart for everybody, and someone who cannot be trusted to manage a multi-billion dollar state budget.
Robinson’s extremism goes far beyond what we’ve seen from other down-ballot candidates across the country — we know this because for over a year we have been researching and trying to educate voters about who this candidate is.
Robinson first burst onto the scene in 2018 when he gave a speech at a city council meeting following the Parkland shooting, detailing his desire to keep assault weapons easily accessible. This put him on the map with right-wing extremists who helped launch him into the lieutenant governor’s office.
In fact, Robinson mocked the students who survived the Parkland shooting, calling them “spoiled little bastards,” and “media prosti-tots,” and referred to one of the survivors as a “commie stooge,” and another as “that bald chick.” Robinson was in his very late 40s when he made fun of children who had just survived a massacre.
But Robinson didn’t save his online vitriol just for kids. He also took to Facebook to dismiss the atrocities Jewish people faced under Hitler, calling the Holocaust “hogwash,” quoting Hitler and dismissing the idea that neo-Nazis still exist. Robinson went so far as to encourage kids to read Hitler. Robinson also has extreme hatred for the LGBTQ+ community, calling its members “filth,” comparing gay people to “maggots” and calling straight couples “superior.”
No one is off limits from Mark Robinson’s hatred, including shaming the Black community as one that “celebrates the very lawlessness and violence that is killing its future right in front of them,” and even posted, “Someone asked me if I considered myself part of the ‘African-American’ community. I told them NO!” He also referred to Martin Luther King as an “ersatz pastor” and a “communist,” and criticized the civil rights movement.
Robinson, who Donald Trump called “Martin Luther King on steroids,” is vying to be North Carolina’s first Black governor.
Beyond his dangerous rhetoric targeting children and minorities, Robinson has made clear that, from a policy standpoint, he wants to roll the clock back. After winning his primary it was reported that Robinson wanted “to go back to the America where women couldn’t vote” and in other instances referred to women as “whores” and “witches.” This is less surprising when you hear what he has to say about abortion. Robinson, who has supported banning the procedure with zero exceptions, has called abortion care “murder” and “genocide” and called doctors who administer the procedure the “butchers of humanity.”
Robinson has found a home in the MAGA world, calling January 6th a “small debacle” and referring to those arrested as “political prisoners.” He even paid more than $70,000 to get a shout-out at one of Trump’s Mar-A-Lago fundraisers.
And just like Trump, he has completely lied and embellished his personal success. In his book, Robinson claimed that he and his wife “paid our bills on time,” but failed to mention he filed for bankruptcy five times. And recent reports indicate Robinson and his wife, Yolanda Hill, forged paperwork for their day care center. His wife also shut down her non-profit after the state discovered numerous irregularities; the organization brought in $7 million in taxpayer dollars and dolled out “$830,000 in salaries to Hill, Robinson and other members of their family.” Ms. Hill doubled her salary over the course of a year.
Robinson did all of that while claiming, “The problem is we have people that have been abusing the system for far too long. And too many of these social programs have degraded our work ethic.”
All of this is to say — Mark Robinson is not qualified to be Governor of North Carolina. And his primary opponents, as well as Sen. Thom Tillis and former Governor Pat McCrory, have said as much, as they have refused to endorse Robinson. His rhetoric will put people’s lives in danger, his policies will put people’s lives in danger, and his lack of financial responsibility will hamstring North Carolina’s progress made over the past eight years.
Published: Jul 15, 2024 | Last Modified: Jul 16, 2024