The Republicans' house is on fire in North Carolina

They all knew who Mark Robinson was and embraced him anyhow.

I’m not gonna lie. I can’t stop laughing. Thanks, Phil Berger. Thanks, Tim Moore. Thanks, Ted Budd. Thanks, Virginia Foxx. Thanks, Richard Hudson. Thanks, Dan Bishop. They all knew who Mark Robinson was and they all supported him anyway.

They could have stopped Robinson in the GOP primary. State Treasurer Dale Folwell has years of state government and business experience. Attorney Bill Graham, who also ran in the primary, warned of Robinson, “He is a Holocaust denier. He’s in denialism with the fact that six million Jews were marched off by the Nazis to their deaths. If this guy gets the Republican nomination for governor of this state, he is going to be the poster child for the Democratic playbook and they are going to wipe the floor with this guy.” 

They knew and backed him anyway. Now, their whole house is on fire and all they’ve got is a tank of gasoline. Thanks for the laughs.

I’ll admit, when I first heard the news about Robinson calling himself a “Black Nazi,” denigrating Martin Luther King, Jr., using antisemitic language, and discussing transgender porn in a porn chatroom at a site called Nude Africa 10 or 15 years ago, I was skeptical that it would get much attention.

I mean, we already knew about his Facebook posts praising Hitler and denying the Holocaust. We knew he mocked the Civil Rights Movement and called MLK a communist. We’ve watched videos of him saying awful things about the LGBT+ community in sermon-like speeches. And we knew he once spent hours almost every day watching porn in little black booths at adult books stores.

So what made this oppo dump so special?

Well, because this one had it all at the same time and same place—a porn chat room. And, as a friend said, “Black Nazi” is more memorable than any bumper sticker. The kicker, though, was bragging about an affair with his wife’s sister and the explicit details he gave. Oof.

I’ve never seen panic run through a political party like it did yesterday. Republican candidates who proudly displayed grip-and-grin photos with Robinson were scrubbing their social media posts, trying desperately to put distance between themselves and the lieutenant governor. The Carolina Journal, the mouthpiece of the conservative John Locke Foundation, wrote, “Robinson is under pressure from staff and members of the Trump campaign to withdraw from the governor’s race due to the nature of the story.” I don’t know if he was under pressure or not, but the Locke Foundation was trying to push him out.

Robinson didn’t budge. He’s learned that if he just sits tight, all the furor will die down. They created him so they’ve got to live with him.

Last fall, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger came out with an early endorsement, calling Robinson “the right person at the right time.” House Speaker Tim Moore endorsed him and Robinson endorsed Moore in his primary for Congress in return. Donald Trump called him “Martin Luther King on steroids.” Dan Bishop called him a “close friend” and bragged about his early endorsement.

Now, nobody is coming to his defense. The only support he’s received comes from an anonymous NC GOP statement calling the accusations a “smear.” Some people speculate that establishment Republicans dropped the research to try to push Robinson out at the last minute because he’s a drag on the ticket. Now they’re stuck with him. Let the retribution begin.

Republicans rallied around Robinson for two reasons: he could excite their right flank and he’s Black. They didn’t care that he posted hateful, bigoted things on Facebook. They ignored all of his homophobic insults and his violent rhetoric. They overlooked years of financial mismanagement and unpaid taxes. They didn’t even mind that he had no practical experience of any kind to lead the state.

No, they just believed that he could motivate their base with his inflammatory rhetoric and that he would steal African American voters from Stein. In other words, they didn’t care about this state or the people who live here. They only care about winning and power.

They are all cynical bastards. For them, the lesson of Donald Trump is that nobody is ever held accountable and it never matters. Their base won’t abandon Trump and they will probably stick with Robinson. They’ll blame the press and believe the lies because they are the people who can be fooled all of the time.

There’s a chance that Robinson’s adventures in porn and fascism might not impact the election. We’ve seen scandals that should have been career ending just go away. But this feels a bit different.

Robinson’s money will almost certainly dry up. Rumor has it that he’s no longer welcome at Trump rallies. While the internet was waiting for the CNN story to drop, Josh Stein was hosting a Republicans for Stein event where numerous prominent Republicans, including several former legislators, were endorsing him. Republicans who still have integrity now have a place to go, joining the ranks of Republicans for Stein and Republicans for Harris-Walz.

In other news, recently released court filings and depositions say Rep. Dan Bishop’s buddy Matt Gaetz was at drug-fueled sex parties where a 17-year-old girl was reportedly trafficked. Bishop and Gaetz have been close allies in Congress. He considers a self-proclaimed “Black Nazi” a close friend. At the very least, Bishop shows he lacks the judgment to serve as the state’s top law enforcement officer.

As for Robinson, more is almost certainly coming. It’s only September. We’ll see more hits well into in October. We haven’t heard much at all about his financial problems or failing to pay taxes. I hope Mark Robinson’s favorabilities drop to single digits and that he sinks half the Republican Party. That probably won’t happen because, let’s face it, Republicans would vote for Satan himself if he had an “R” behind his name, but at least I can laugh at the grifters and charlatans who make up the modern GOP for a few days. May their weekend suck as much as their moral compasses.