Mark Robinson admits ‘I lied’ about CNN story

Mark Robinson, then-North Carolina Lt. Gov., speaks at the Republican National Convention, in July 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

Former North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson admitted he lied about a bombshell CNN KFile investigation during the final months of his 2024 gubernatorial campaign, uncovering his extensive history of posting inflammatory and racist comments on a pornography website.

Robinson initially denied the report and sued CNN for US$50 million that fall as he marched on with his gubernatorial campaign. Robinson eventually lost to current Democratic Gov. Josh Stein by more than 14 points.

Now, in a recent podcast interview, Robinson has acknowledged his deception and that he had an “obsession” with pornography and sex. He says he lied about the CNN report to protect those around him, including President Donald Trump, because it was “the most expedient thing to do.”

“I won’t say that I completely lied, some of the things about the whole story. Some of it — there’s some truth to it,” Robinson said on Thursday.

But “if I had to ignore the truth at that moment for their expediency, I felt like it was the right thing to do,” said Robinson.

“I certainly don’t want to be the person that costs the president of the United States the election. Didn’t want to cost anyone else their election. I guess there may be some people that feel like that I did,” he said.

CNN’s KFile reported in September 2024 that Robinson made a litany of inflammatory comments on a pornography website’s message board a decade earlier, in which he called himself a “black NAZI!” and expressed support for reinstating slavery. The comments were made under an alias, minisoldr, that CNN was able to link to Robinson by matching numerous biographical details and a shared email address.

Robinson strongly denied the story to CNN in an interview at the time. “This is not us. These are not our words. And this is not anything that is characteristic of me,” Robinson said.

Despite pressure from Republicans to drop out of the race, Robinson remained in it and his staff quickly fled the campaign.

After leaving office, Robinson dropped the defamation lawsuit against CNN and vowed to retire from politics.

During a 90-minute interview on “After the Call,” a podcast hosted by Florida-based pastor Josh Hall, Robinson delved into his childhood, his struggles with his obsession with sex and pornography, and copped to some of the reporting in CNN’s story.

“More than anything, you know, allegations that I watched pornography and was involved with people that watched pornography, and that that was absolutely true,” Robinson said.

Robinson said he was speaking out about his pornography “obsession” because he believes people like him, who struggled and came back from it, are the best messengers to help others struggling.

“The only shame in it is staying in it,” he said.

Robinson also suggested that some things his online alias, minisoldr, posted were falsely attributed to him. “I don’t deny the fact that at some point, I said enough salacious things where they could certainly make it seem so.”

It is unclear what comments Robinson is referring to.

He also maintained that had he followed his instincts and replaced his staff in the summer before the election, he could have survived the scandal.

“I should have changed campaign teams in the summer and took my campaign in a completely different direction. And if I had, I believe even with the CNN scandal, I believe I still would’ve won that race,” he said.

When asked by the host if he could go back to that time and make that decision or own up to the story, Robinson didn’t hesitate.

“No, I’d do the exact same thing,” he said, adding that the story was “never about me.”

“For the other, for the people who were doing it to me, it wasn’t about me. It was about a cause bunch bigger than that. And they knew that they could use me to destroy, the people around me, up to and including the president, they would do it. And so I’d make the exact same decision.”

By Em Steck, Andrew Kaczynski, CNN