Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) released a scathing ultimatum to GOP gubernatorial hopeful Mark Robinson after a report surfaced linking him to a pornographic website. Tillis stressed that Robinson “owes it to President Trump” to settle the matter.
“If the reporting on Mark Robinson is a total media fabrication, he needs to take immediate legal action,” Tillis said in a Friday post on X.
“If the reporting is true, he owes it to President Trump and every Republican to take accountability for his actions and put the future of NC & our party before himself,” he said.
His comments came after a viral video from Robinson rebuking the allegations and vowing to continue his run for North Carolina governor.
“Let me reassure you, the things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson. You know my words, you know my character, and you know that I have been completely transparent in this race and before. Folks, this race right now, our opponents are desperate to shift the focus here from the substantive issues and focus on what you are concerned with to salacious trap, tabloid trash,” he said in the X video.
In comments to CNN, Robinson said that this was “not us.”
“This is not us. These are not our words. And this is not anything that is characteristic of me,” Robinson said. “I’m not going to get into the minutia of how somebody manufactured this, these salacious tabloid lies.”
The claims come as North Carolina remains a key swing state going into 2024.
President Biden squeaked out a win in the hard-fought 2020 election, thanks to slim margins in several swing states—North Carolina among them, despite it having been carried by former President Trump by just over a point. As the 2024 race seems poised to be similarly competitive, polls show Trump with a small edge in the state.
