Conspiracy theorist and anti-abortion rights Republican Mark Robinson will face off against Democrat Josh Stein in the race for North Carolina’s governor primary election in November. Robinson has a leg up, given the Republican party’s dominance in North Carolina’s legislature, but that might not be a good thing for marginalized residents living in the southern state.
Robinson — who became North Carolina’s first Black lieutenant governor in 2020 — has a history of making insensitive and racist remarks that could impact his ability to create fair and just policies. The politician, who recently received support from Donald Trump, reportedly described COVID-19 as a “globalist” conspiracy to destroy the former president, the Guardian noted.
In 2021, the Republican was slammed for calling members of the LGBTQ+ community “filth” while criticizing educators for teaching students about the diverse group.
“There’s no reason anybody anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality, any of that filth,” he said while speaking at Asbury Baptist Church in Seagrove, North Carolina, during Pride Month.
Deputy White House Press Secretary Andrew Bates called out Robinson for his hateful remark.
“These words are repugnant and offensive,” said Bates, according to the Washington Blade. “The role of a leader is to bring people together and stand up for the dignity and rights of everyone; not to spread hate and undermine their own office.”
The Greensboro native loudly protested reparations for Black Americans during the North Carolina State Republican Party Convention that same year. He suggested that Black folks owe a debt to society for slavery, and not the other way around.
“After those fields were ended and slavery was ended, somebody had to walk through Jim Crow for you,” Robinson said unabashedly. “Somebody fought wars and died for you.”
He boldly added, “Nobody owes you anything. If anybody owes it’s you — because you’ve been the benefactor of freedom, you are the one that owes.”
He’s pro-life and has made inflammatory remarks about trans people.
In February of this year, Robinson took aim at trans women during a campaign stop in Cary, North Carolina.
“We’re going to defend women in this state,” he told the crowd, noting how trans women should be “arrested” for using the women’s bathroom.
“That means if you’re a man on Friday night and all of the sudden on Saturday, you feel like a woman and you want to go in the women’s bathroom in the mall, you will be arrested — or whatever we got to do to you.”
During an interview on WSIC in February 2023, Robinson said he would ban abortion if he had complete control as governor of North Carolina.
During a conversation with a journalist at a gathering in Pitt County this past February, the controversial Republican softened his staunch anti-abortion stance, indicating his inclination to limit the procedure to the first six weeks of pregnancy.
“We’ve got to do it that same way they rolled it forward, we’ve got to do it the same way with rolling it back,” Robinson said in audio obtained by Fox 8, according to CBS 17.
“We’ve got it down to 12 weeks. The next goal is to get it down to 6, and then just keep moving from there, but I think the most important work we have to do, beyond that, is the work we’re going to do with crisis pregnancy centers. The work we’ll do with our adoption, daycare, all those systems.”
A spokesperson for the Black lieutenant later clarified that he would support legislation “that would limit abortion after a heartbeat is detected, with protections for extreme situations such as rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in danger.” The spokesperson added that Robinson’s stern pro-life views stem from the “painful” abortion he and his wife experienced years ago.
The anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ politician publicly apologized for the abortion in 2022.
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