Why the Mark Robinson porn site scandal came at a perfect time for the Democrats

When Donald Trump appears on stage in North Carolina on Saturday, he will be missing his usual sidekick.

Just two days before Trump’s trip to the state, which is one of the closest of this election cycle, the gubernatorial campaign of one of his closest allies was thrown into disarray.

Shortly after 3pm on Thursday, a story by CNN alleged that Mark Robinson described himself as a “black Nazi” on the amateur black erotic website “Nude Africa”.

In the posts, it is claimed that he revealed his love of pornography featuring transgender actors and said: “Slavery is not bad. I wish they would bring it [slavery] back. I would certainly buy a few.”

The comments were allegedly posted between 2008 and 2012, using a username that Mr Robinson has used on other social media sites, and disclosing his location to other users of the forum.

The former president had described Mr Robinson, who is currently North Carolina’s Republican lieutenant governor, as a friend who was “better than Martin Luther King”.

His proximity to Trump had also positioned him as one of the Republican Party’s rising stars, despite previous inflammatory comments that some Americans with “evil intent...need killing,” argued that transgender Americans should “find a corner outside somewhere” to go to the toilet, and alleged use of anti-Semitic language.

He later said his comment about killing some voters was a reference to the Second World War and had been taken out of context.

Given those comments, it is perhaps not surprising that the media would go digging in Mr Robinson’s past.

But when the story dropped, it could not have been a worse time for Mr Robinson - or Trump.

Firstly, the story came just two days before Trump’s visit to Wilmington on Saturday, where he is campaigning in the aftermath of polls that showed he is just 0.3 points ahead of Kamala Harris.

It was also just hours before the deadline for Mr Robinson to withdraw from the race, which he has refused to do.

The North Carolina GOP is now stuck with an embattled candidate, in a race that previously looked extremely close.

The former president said on Friday that Mr Robinson will not join Trump on stage, despite their previously strong relationship and his appearance at previous Trump rallies.

At a rally in March, Trump compared him repeatedly to Martin Luther King Jr, describing him as “better than Martin Luther King” and like the civil rights activist “on steroids”.

He has referred to him as “outstanding” and an “incredible gentleman,” bringing him into the loose and transient court of “Trump World”.

Since the story broke, the Harris campaign has wasted no time in pointing out Mr Robinson’s links to Trump, releasing an attack ad on Friday that replayed the former president’s old comments about him.

The campaign is planning a dozen billboards in North Carolina that make the link explicit to voters, who will cast ballots in both the presidential and gubernatorial race in November.

Mr Robinson has claimed that the story was deliberately released at a damaging time for his campaign, accusing his Democratic rival Josh Stein and CNN of colluding to sink his chances of the governorship.

He denied that he had made the comments, but did not offer any further explanation for them.

Mr Stein’s campaign said Mr Robinson was “completely unfit to be Governor” but did not comment on the accusation it had worked with CNN on the story.

Others said that Mr Robinson’s team had failed in their political “opsec” – the process of protecting a candidate including by sanitising damaging information about them from the internet.

Political campaigns generally collect “attack” stories about their opponents during an election cycle, and often choose to release them at the most opportune moment for their own political prospects.

In an attempt to get ahead of the story, Mr Robinson released a video before it was published.

“Let me reassure you,” he said. “The things that you will see in that story — those are not the words of Mark Robinson.”

He told supporters he would stay in the race, and blamed his rival Mr Stein for the story, which he described as “salacious tabloid trash”.

Whatever the origins of the story - it, and its unfortunate timing for Mr Robinson – could have implications for the presidential election.

Although Mr Robinson has made controversial comments before, the latest tranche of his alleged posts are likely to outrage his conservative base.

A post in which he allegedly said that “tranny on girl porn” was “f---ing hot” is in direct conflict with his statements on transgender rights, which he has strongly opposed.

Another series of messages, in which he allegedly described “peeping” on a woman in the shower, stands in stark contrast to his public image as a man of faith.

North Carolina has emerged as one of the tightest and most interesting battlegrounds of the election.

It is the only one of the seven swing states that voted for Trump in 2020, by a margin of 1.35 per cent.

Now, an average of polls in the state shows Ms Harris is just 0.3 points behind him.

Ms Harris winning in North Carolina would deny Trump 16 votes in the electoral college – making his route to 270 much more challenging.

She has placed Roy Cooper, the state’s outgoing governor, at the centre of her campaign and booked him to introduce her at the Democratic National Convention last month.

A significant hit to GOP votes in the state, or some Republicans staying home in disgust at the alleged comments, could hand Ms Harris North Carolina and cost Trump the election.