In the upcoming CNN story, Robinson is on the defensive

A campaign adviser said Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson will appear on CNN today to defend himself on a story the national broadcaster is preparing.

“I spoke to Mark this morning and he was willing to appear on CNN and defend himself against the allegations,” Jason Williams, a partner at Endgame Consulting, the agency handling Robinson's campaign, said in a text message response to a question.

Williams called the CNN article a “smear piece.” The article contains explosive allegations about statements the national broadcaster said Robinson made in an online forum in 2009, Williams said. Robinson was not elected until 2021 after successfully campaigning for lieutenant governor in 2020.

“The main allegations that I recall were allegations that he made extremely racist remarks about Martin Luther King, called himself a black Nazi, and used anti-Semitic language in reference to Jews,” Williams said in the text message.

Robinson denies having made these statements. “When I spoke to him, he denied it 100 percent,” says Williams.

At a lunch with business owners in Charlotte this week, Robinson said he was very pro-Israel and denied holding anti-Semitic views.

While Endgame is working on the campaign, Williams said he is not officially working on Robinson's campaign team.

As of 12:30 p.m. today, CNN had not yet published an article about Robinson on its website.

Robinson is running against Attorney General Josh Stein, the Democratic Party's candidate for governor.

The Carolina Journala conservative publication from Raleigh, cited sources with direct knowledge that members of Donald Trump's campaign team are urging Robinson to withdraw from the race for governor because of the upcoming CNN story.

A spokesman for Robinson's campaign team said there was no truth to the rumors that Robinson would resign.

Tonight is the deadline to withdraw from the race, the Carolina Journal reported. It's too late to remove Robinson's name from the ballot because early voting begins in four weeks and absentee ballots will be mailed on Friday.

According to Michael Bitzer, a political scientist at Catawba College, it would be unprecedented for a gubernatorial candidate in North Carolina or neighboring states to withdraw his candidacy between his nomination and the general election.