Mark Robinson appears to be lashing out at the Republicans who abandoned him

WASHINGTON — Days before the election, North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson appeared to sharply denounce the Republican Party for abandoning him amid his controversies, not the least of which included disturbing comments he reportedly made on a porn site .

Robinson, the state's lieutenant governor, excoriated unnamed Republican politicians during a rally Friday with Michele Morrow. a far-right GOP candidate to the state school director. After praising Americans who fought in the Revolutionary War and world wars, Robinson compared them to today's elected officials, who he said would “tuck tail and run” when faced with challenges.

“We “There are so-called elected officials, people I call politicians, who are afraid to stand up and fight for what is right,” Robinson told a group of supporters.

“As soon as they get a little bit of trouble, they turn tail and run,” he said, apparently alluding to Republicans cutting ties with him after CNN reported his comments on the porn site in September. “They send you a message on the phone and say, 'Uh, uh, uh, I'm sorry, but, uh, uh, uh, I have, I have, I can't, I.' I can't – uh, uh.' It makes me sick.”

Robinson said that if certain Republicans win their elections on Tuesday, they will realize that they are not so much prepared to defend the Constitution as their own “position of power.”

“Then what would you do, Mr. Coward, if you didn’t stand up and fight? “What are you going to do then?” he shouted. “You’re going to tuck tail and run. You will turn against your fellow Republicans. They will turn against your so-called conservatives.”

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Republicans all but abandoned Robinson in the wake of the CNN report that exposed the matter Years of disturbing comments He had done it in a forum on the porn site Nude Africa. He described himself as a “black Nazi.” He described becoming sexually aroused by spying on women and girls in public showers. He called himself a “pervert” who enjoys pornography featuring transgender people — a sharp contrast to the transphobic rhetoric he used as a candidate.

Even Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who enthusiastically endorsed Robinson in March and appeared on stage with him at campaign events, now acts as if he doesn't know who he is.

Robinson has denied the CNN report and is suing the network for $50 million. But the CNN report painstakingly laid out how Robinson was linked to the plethora of comments on the porn site's forum, and Robinson has provided no new evidence to refute the report.

He even initially suggested that all of these comments may have been his.

Robinson was already trailing his Democratic opponent Josh Stein before the CNN report was published. The North Carolina Republican has been making vile comments, stoking conspiracy theories and making countless sexist, transphobic and otherwise offensive claims for years. But his campaign collapsed last month as his staff resigned en masse and GOP groups cut him off financially.

You can watch the full clip of Robinson's Friday speech here. His attacks on unnamed Republican politicians begin about three minutes in.

At another point during Friday's rally, Robinson praised Democrats for their unity behind Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, who he said was “the worst” candidate ever.

“They don’t turn tail and run. There’s no need for that, folks,” he said, adding, “We’re not dealing with people who give in and quit.”

Ironically, he urged his supporters to run against the Democrats like Trump – who has publicly cut ties with Robinson.

“We must continue to do what our former president and future president always do: stand up and fight!” he said to applause.

Robinson and Stein, who is currently the state's attorney general, are competing for an open spot in the governor's race. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (D) is term-limited.

The latest poll in her race was conducted this week and showed Stein with a 17 percentage point lead over Robinson, according to poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight.

The Cook Political Report rates this seat as “Likely Democratic.”

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