Trump adviser confronted with Mark Robinson's impact on racial segregation in North Carolina

Corey Lewandowski, a senior official in Donald Trump's presidential campaign, was confronted by CNN's Michael Smerconish on Saturday morning about the scandal surrounding North Carolina's Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson and its impact on the election campaign in the swing state.

Robinson, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has said he will not drop out of the race for governor after a CNN report uncovered alleged activity on an adult website more than a decade ago. It included posts in which Robinson allegedly called himself a “black NAZI,” defended slavery, repeated homophobic slurs and fondly recalled “roping” women. CNN did not include many of the posts due to their explicit nature.

On Friday, The Washington Post reported that “minisoldr,” the username allegedly associated with Robinson on the pornography website “Nude Africa,” also expressed an affinity for Nazi literature.

“Mein Kampf is a good read,” the user reportedly wrote in a book recommendation thread. “It's very informative and not at all what I expected. It's a real eye-opener.”

Robinson denied he was behind the posts to CNN and in a video message he posted on his social media accounts minutes before the story was published. “The things you see in this story are not my words. You know my words, my character, and I have been completely transparent in this campaign,” he said in the video.

Mike Lonergan, communications director for Robinson's campaign, blamed Josh Stein, Robinson's Democratic opponent in the gubernatorial election, for the publications. In an email to Newsweek on Friday.

“All Josh Stein [and] “What the Democrats are saying about Mark Robinson is either a flat-out lie or so taken out of context that it might as well be true,” Lonergan said. “The people of North Carolina have heard enough lies from career politicians like Josh Stein – and that's why they're going to elect Mark Robinson governor on November 5.”

The emergence of the scandal quickly sparked fears that Robinson could hurt Trump's chances in North Carolina, a crucial swing state that could decide this year's close presidential election. Robinson, whom Trump has previously called “Martin Luther King on steroids,” will not speak or appear at Trump's rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Saturday afternoon.

Newsweek emailed Robinson's office Saturday morning for comment.

On Saturday, Smerconish asked Lewandowski at the beginning of the interview: “Will former President Trump say anything about Mark Robinson when he takes the stage today in North Carolina?”

Lewandowski responded: “We'll have to wait and see. Look, we're not focused on Mark Robinson, we're focused on winning a presidential election. I've never seen a presidential candidate benefit or be disadvantaged by a candidate on a lower ballot. Donald Trump is at the top of the list. He's going to lay out his vision for America, which is very different from the vision that Kamala Harris wants.”

Trump won North Carolina in the 2016 and 2020 elections, but his margin of victory in 2020 was small: he received 49.9 percent of the vote to current President Joe Biden's 48.6 percent. According to poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight, Trump is currently just 0.1 percentage points ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate (47.5 percent to 47.4 percent).

Robinson's alleged comments could harm not only his race against Stein, North Carolina's attorney general, but also Republican prospects in other races, including Trump's.

Lewandowski, who emphasized that Trump is a two-time winner of North Carolina, was asked on Saturday whether Trump believed Robinson's denials.

“I didn’t speak to him [Trump] specifically about that. I travelled with him and the subject did not come up. It's up to Mark Robinson. He said these things are not true, but I don't know if they are or not,” Lewandowski added.

On Friday, Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, posted on X, formerly Twitter: “If the reporting on Mark Robinson is a pure media fabrication, he must take legal action immediately. If the reporting is true, he owes it to President Trump and every Republican to take responsibility for his actions and put the future of North Carolina and our party before himself.”

Smerconish read this statement to Lewandowski and asked him for his answer.

“The problem with this issue, Michael, is that the deadline to remove yourself from the ballot has now passed. The ballots were sent out yesterday. Mark Robinson will be the Republican nominee no matter how it turns out,” Lewandowski said.

The North Carolina Republican Party made no attempt Friday to block the delivery of ballots to overseas and military personnel, meaning Robinson will remain on the ballot. Thursday was the latest date Republicans could legally challenge the ballot.

The state's Republicans also released a statement on X defending Robinson, writing: “Mark Robinson has categorically denied CNN's allegations, but that will not stop the left from demonizing him through personal attacks.” The statement said this was an attempt to “smear” Robinson before the election.

If Robinson resigns, the North Carolina Republican Party executive committee would be tasked with choosing a successor. If the party leadership were to nominate a new candidate, it would also have to launch a rapid campaign to make it clear to voters that all votes cast for Robinson would be transferred to the new candidate. Such a strategy is usually only used in exceptional circumstances, such as when a candidate dies shortly before an election.

On Saturday, Lewandowski questioned the timing of the story's publication and reiterated that the campaign's focus was on the race against Harris.

“The amazing thing is the timing of this story. Obviously it came out on the last day [before ballots were released]. He denied it. I have not spoken to him or anyone on his campaign team. But that is his business. [Robinson] to find out. We are focused exclusively on the presidential election.”