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NC Gov. Mark Robinson was treated for burns after an incident at a campaign rally

North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson was treated at a hospital after being injured at a campaign rally Friday evening.

Mike Lonergan, communications director for Robinson's gubernatorial campaign, told The News & Observer that Robinson was treated for burns following the incident at the Mayberry Truck Show & Parade in Mount Airy.

Lonergan said Robinson was treated for “second-degree burns” at Northern Regional Hospital and was “in good spirits.” He said Robinson “appreciates the many well wishes and looks forward to getting back on the campaign trail tomorrow morning as planned.”

It was not immediately clear what happened at the Mount Airy event. The Washington Post reported that Robinson “burned his hand while leaning against a truck” and that he is “well now and at home.” Lonergan did not immediately respond to further questions Friday evening.

Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson speaks during the State Council meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday, January 9, 2024.

Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson speaks during the State Council meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday, January 9, 2024.

Robinson currently has four campaign events on his schedule for Saturday, including an address at the NC Faith and Freedom Coalition's annual Salt & Light conference in the afternoon.

Friday's truck show was Robinson's fourth scheduled campaign stop of the day and the latest in a series of meet-and-greets and events the embattled Republican gubernatorial candidate has held this week following the explosive CNN report revealing indecency and racist comments Robinson allegedly made on a porn website several years ago.

Robinson, who has denied the comments and called them “salacious lies,” has spent the past week regrouping and resuming his campaign as the fallout from CNN's reporting continues.

Nearly all of his campaign staffers, including a longtime political adviser, resigned Sunday. On Wednesday, half of Robinson's staff in the lieutenant governor's office resigned.

Meanwhile, Robinson continued his campaign and hired a lawyer, Jesse Binnall, to investigate the comments reported by CNN.

All of this comes as Robinson faces pressure from several senior Republicans, including key allies like U.S. Sen. Ted Budd and U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, to prove to voters that he was not behind the comments.

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, who supported one of Robinson's opponents in the March Republican primary, said this week that if the allegations in the CNN report were false, Robinson “should hire a really good lawyer and provide a minimum level of evidence to back it up.” Disprove some of this, sue them and settle in court.”

“Failure to do so within a reasonable period of time then reinforces the likely reality that some, perhaps not all, but some of these claims are true, and if so, then they are devastating and disqualifying,” Tillis told reporters.

Tillis gave Robinson an ultimatum, demanding reporters refute the report by Friday. He said that was the day “I will make a decision myself.”

Washington correspondent Danielle Battaglia contributed to this report.

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