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North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, the state's Republican gubernatorial candidate, on Friday dismissed reports that he made racially inflammatory statements on a porn site as politically motivated lies and refused to drop out of the race.
First reported by U.S. cable news channel CNN, Robinson between 2008 and 2012 had written comments on a website known as "Nude Africa" that were "gratuitously sexual and lewd in nature," as well as racially charged.
According to screen shots of Robinson's comments included in the CNN report, the high-ranking state official described himself as a "black Nazi" who expressed support for slavery. It also said Robinson, who has in the past condemned homosexuality and expressed hostility toward transgender people, wrote that he enjoyed watching transgender pornography.
In a video statement released Friday, Robinson denied the report, calling it "salacious, tabloid trash." He said the words reported were not his and that he has been completely transparent during this campaign and before it began. "You know my words. You know my character," he said.
He compared the report to when Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was accused of sexual harassment during his confirmation hearings. Just as Thomas did, Robinson said he, too, was the victim of a "high-tech lynching." He said he was staying in the race and was "in it to win it."
The governor's race in the southeastern U.S. state has implications in the U.S. presidential contest and other races in November. Robinson has been endorsed by Republican candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called Robinson "Martin Luther King on steroids."
The latest polls show Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, a percentage point or two ahead of Trump, and the report on Robinson could affect voter turnout and enthusiasm. Democrats have not won the state since 2008.
Robinson has been known for inflammatory comments in the past, once describing the Holocaust as "hogwash." The latest polls show him trailing his Democratic opponent, State Attorney General Josh Stein, by between five and 13 points.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.