NC candidate Mark Robinson sues CNN over porn site report.
North Carolina's Republican Lieutenant Governor, Mark Robinson, 56, filed a lawsuit against CNN on Tuesday in response to a recent article alleging that he had posted explicit racial and sexual content on a message board associated with a pornography website. Mr. Robinson characterized the reporting as both reckless and defamatory.
North Carolina's Republican candidate for governor Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, 56, has initiated a defamation lawsuit in Wake County Superior Court against CNN, concerning the network's coverage of chatroom messages he purportedly posted on a pornographic website from 2008 to 2012. The lawsuit follows closely behind a report that prompted numerous Republican elected officials and candidates, including presidential nominee Donald Trump, to separate themselves from Robinson’s campaign for governor.
Mr. Robinson disclosed the lawsuit during a press conference in Raleigh and has denied authoring the messages. The lawsuit claims that CNN decided to publish the information despite being aware or willfully ignoring the fact that Lt. Gov. Robinson's personal data, which includes his name, date of birth, passwords, and the email address allegedly linked to the NudeAfrica account, had been compromised in several prior data breaches, the lawsuit states. Mr. Robinson called the report a high-tech lynching on a candidate “who has been targeted from Day 1 by folks who disagree with me politically and want to see me destroyed.”
The CNN report, initially broadcast on September 19, indicated that Robinson had posted comments on a message board more than ten years ago. In these statements, he described himself as a "black NAZI," said he enjoyed transgender pornography, stated a preference for Hitler over then-President Barack Obama, and criticized Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. by labeling him as "worse than a maggot."
The network report identified similarities between the account on the message board and other online accounts associated with Robinson by analyzing usernames, a recognized email address, and his complete name. According to CNN, the information shared by the account holder corresponded with Robinson's age, duration of marriage, and various other biographical details. Additionally, CNN noted that it examined recurring phrases found in his public X profile that were also present in the discussions on the adult website.
Robinson has also initiated a defamation lawsuit against the lead singer of a Greensboro punk rock band. The singer claimed in a music video and during an interview with a media organization that Robinson, during the 1990s and early 2000s, regularly visited a pornographic shop where the singer was formerly employed and made purchases of videos. Louis Love Money, the other defendant named in the case, produced the video and engaged with various media outlets prior to the CNN report. Robinson denies the allegation in the lawsuit.
The legal action, which demands a minimum of $50 million in compensation, claims that the initiative against Robinson "seems to be a concerted effort intended to undermine his gubernatorial campaign." The lawsuit does not present any proof that the network or Money colluded with external organizations to fabricate the statements that Robinson contends are untrue.
Mr. Robinson's lawyer, Jesse Binnall said: "We will use every tool at our disposal now that a lawsuit has been filed, including the subpoena power, in order to continue pursuing the facts."
Donald Trump expressed his support for Robinson prior to the gubernatorial primary in March, describing him as “Martin Luther King on steroids” due to his oratory skills. Mr. Robinson had regularly attended Trump’s campaign events in North Carolina; however, he has not taken part in any such event following the CNN report.
Mr. Mark Robinson is an American politician, serving as the 35th lieutenant governor of North Carolina since 2021. As a member of the Republican Party, he is the designated nominee for the 2024 gubernatorial election in North Carolina.
