
North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson was hospitalized Friday evening after an “incident” occurred during a campaign event, Fox News Digital confirmed. The incident took place at the Mayberry Truck Show in Mt. Airy, North Carolina.
“Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson was treated at Northern Regional Hospital for second-degree burns. He is in good spirits, appreciates the outpouring of well wishes, and is excited to return to the campaign trail as scheduled first thing tomorrow morning,” Robinson’s campaign communications director, Mike Lonergan, shared with Fox News Digital.
The exact cause of the burns is still unclear.
Robinson, who is currently North Carolina’s Republican lieutenant governor, is running against Democratic state Attorney General Josh Stein to replace outgoing Democratic Governor Roy Cooper. His campaign, however, has recently faced controversy after allegations surfaced in a CNN report, claiming Robinson made offensive comments on a porn website over a decade ago.
In response to these allegations, Robinson has strongly denied any involvement. He has retained Jesse Binnall, an attorney who has previously represented former President Donald Trump, to conduct an investigation into the claims. Binnall’s law firm, based in northern Virginia, is moving quickly to address the issue.
“Normally, something like this, an investigation, you know, run by the Department of Justice and the FBI would take months or years,” Binnall said. “We can’t do that in this case because the voters need an answer before the election. And so we are going to move very quickly and still give them a very fulsome report.”
Binnall emphasized Robinson’s denial of the comments reported by CNN. “He absolutely denies saying any of the things that are in the CNN piece. What my investigation is going to do is we are going to follow the facts. We are going to investigate this strenuously. We are going to leave no stone unturned. We’re going to be very, very aggressive. And the citizens of North Carolina deserve nothing less than a full investigation of this matter, which is what we are going to do.”
The allegations, which surfaced earlier this week, include inflammatory comments attributed to Robinson on a porn site’s messaging board. These include claims that he called himself a “black NAZI,” expressed a preference for Hitler over then-President Barack Obama in 2012, and criticized the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as “worse than a maggot.” Robinson has firmly denied these accusations, dismissing them as false.
Despite Robinson’s denial, the accusations have led to some distancing within Republican circles. Robinson, who could become North Carolina’s first Black governor, was notably not mentioned by Trump during a recent rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, despite being endorsed by the former president before the March primary and having spoken at previous Trump events.
Regarding the controversy, Robinson has previously stated, “The allegations against me are outright lies, fabricated to distract voters from Josh Stein’s disastrous record. The great people of North Carolina deserve the truth, and I am fully committed to ensuring they get it with complete transparency.”
Robinson is expected to resume his campaign activities following his recovery from the burns.