GREENSBORO, N.C. — A CNN report accusing Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson of posting racist and sexual graphic comments on a pornographic website is sending shockwaves across the state and country.
The report said Robinson supported bringing back slavery, and suggested he'd prefer Hitler over leaders in Washington.
Leaders on both sides of the aisle voiced their opinions on the details of that report.
Members of the Democratic Party had a pre-planned event in the Triad to discuss Robinson's view on abortion Friday. However, that topic changed once the CNN report dropped the day before on Thursday.
Among those at the Democratic Party event was Senator Michael Garrett, who said Robinson was too extreme to lead the state.
"He has denied the Holocaust. He says women need to keep their skirts down. He's attacked the LGBTQ community, the Jewish community and so so much more," Senator Garrett said. "This is the most important election of our lifetimes and it's not an overstatement to say that the future of North Carolina, the state we all love, is what's on the ballot this year."
The state's Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton said that the allegations released Thursday are likely to have Robinson's fellow Republicans sweating, "I think it means that they're also worried about the fact that they've got Republicans running down the ticket that fully backed him, supported him, done videos, done fundraisers, said that he is one of the most godly people that they've ever met in their life and I think that yesterday, we got to see someone who does not represent the values of people across North Carolina," Clayton said.
She said the accusations are concerning but not shocking.
"I don't think anyone that's been paying attention to this race is surprised because that is Mark Robinson's true character and what we saw yesterday was emblematic of that. And I hope that people in North Carolina got to see that we want someone that is going to be a true public servant in the governor's office next year and that looks like Josh Stein who's running for the Democratic nominee this year," Clayton said.
WFMY News 2 spoke with State Treasurer Dale Folwell Thursday who went head to head with Robinson back in March during primaries. Folwell said he is a true conservative, while Robinson is not and that endorsements helped him get where he is.
"What this demonstrates is that in some instances, we don't have elections, we have selections and when you get the endorsement of the former president and the Republican national chair, who used to the North Carolina party chair, you know, it's really hard to overcome that," Folewell said.
Public service is one of the reasons state treasurer and fellow Republican Folewell said he wanted to go up against Robinson.
"The reason I ran for governor is that Mark Robinson has never represented what I think the Republican party stands for and the second reason, very simply is that I love fixing things, I love saving money and I love explaining conservatism in a way that doesn't offend people and that they can understand," Folwell said.
The state's GOP commented on the situation too, defending Robinson, saying in part, "The left can try to smear Mark Robinson all they want but when voters go to the polls on election day, they are going to be asking one simple question: are you better off now than you were four years ago? The answer is overwhelmingly no and that's why Republicans will win on November 5th."
So did Guilford County's GOP saying in part, "The election of Republicans is the best solution to improve the state. Our efforts are directed at combating rising crime rates, bolstering the economy, and curtailing the influx of undocumented immigrants into our state. A cohesive Republican party is essential to achieve these objectives, and we must be vigilant in not legitimizing unfounded claims propagated by the democratic propaganda machinery."
Robinson's next campaign stops are on Monday in Wilkesboro and Boone.
We reached out to the locations of those events and they say to their knowledge, Robinson's is still planning to visit.
JD Vance will be in Charlotte on Monday. We have not confirmed whether Robinson will be there or not.