Robinson Back On Campaign Trail With Plans To ‘Take CNN To Task’ Amid Staff Shake-Up

By Carolina Journal Staff

Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson was in Wilkes County Monday, back on the campaign trail after a weekend of resignations among staff and a CNN report late last week alleging he made inflammatory posts on porn websites more than a decade ago.

Several of Robinson’s campaign events were canceled last week, but he posted video taken at the Fayetteville Motor Speedway, where he spoke on Saturday, and he reportedly had another event in Boone on Monday night.

Over the weekend four key senior staff members resigned: Conrad Pogorzelski III, general consultant and senior adviser; Chris Rodriguez, campaign manager; Heather Whillier, finance director; and Jason Rizk, deputy campaign manager.

In Wilkes County on Monday, Robinson told the press following him that he intends to pursue legal action against CNN and chastised the media for focusing on the story.

“We are not going to let CNN throw us off of our mission, and our mission is to win this race,” he said. “Quite frankly I am dismayed about the fact, as I said before, think about how many people out there right now, right in this place where we are, who are hooked on fentanyl; who are hooked on opioids; and how many will die tonight because of it. Think about what’s going on on our border. Think about what’s going on on the world stage, and this is what you choose to focus on? You’ve got these news cameras, news reporters, pens, pencils, your microphones. This is what you’re focused on. You’re not focused on the things that we talked about standing up there about our economy?”

While the reasons for the staff departures were not detailed in the campaign’s official announcement Monday, Robinson expressed gratitude for their contributions. “I appreciate the efforts of these team members who have made the difficult choice to step away from the campaign,” Robinson said in the statement. He also signaled that new staff appointments would be announced soon.

With absentee ballots already headed to North Carolina voters and early voting to start in less than a month, Robinson was already trailing his opponent Josh Stein before the CNN story. In Carolina Journal’s poll from Sept. 15-16, Robinson was at 39.5% to Stein’s 45%. In the same poll, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris were virtually tied, with Trump leading Harris by less than a percentage point.

Concern among Republicans after the story was its potential impact in North Carolina on Trump, who had endorsed and praised Robinson. On Saturday, Trump was in Wilmington and did not mention Robinson, focusing his comments on ending sanctuary cities.

On Friday, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed House Bill 10, which would require sheriffs across the state to cooperate with ICE.  In North Carolina, Wake, Durham, Mecklenburg, Guilford, Forsyth, Orange, and Chatham counties do not currently honor ICE detainers, according to a June report from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Trump also said that, if awarded a second term, he would work to award full federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, enact policies that reduce energy prices by half within a year, and help younger generations afford to buy a house.

A New York Times poll out on Monday gives Trump a two-point lead in North Carolina over Harris, 47% to 45%.