Four senior campaign officials for Mark Robinson step down in wake of CNN report

 

North Carolina Lt. Governor Mark Robinson arrives to speak at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 15. 

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images/File

Four top operatives on Republican Mark Robinson’s campaign for North Carolina governor have stepped down, the campaign announced Sunday.

General consultant and senior adviser Conrad Pogorzelski III, campaign manager Chris Rodriguez, finance director Heather Whillier and deputy campaign manager Jason Rizk all stepped down.

The announcement from Robinson’s campaign comes in the aftermath of a CNN report uncovering inflammatory comments the lieutenant governor and Republican nominee for governor made on a pornography website message board over a decade ago. The lewd comments included Robinson describing himself as a “black Nazi” and how he used to go “peeping” on women at a public gym when he was 14 years old.

Robinson has a long history of making inflammatory statements, but the newly unearthed message board posts go a step beyond.

Since the CNN report, North Carolina Republicans have moved to pressure Robinson to drop out —  though the state deadline for him to officially withdraw as a candidate has passed. Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign has also looked to leverage Robinson’s association with former President Donald Trump in a new ad.

In a statement announcing the departure, Robinson reiterated his intention to stay in the race.

“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.