(Bloomberg) -- North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson will need to prove his innocence against allegations he made crude and racist remarks on an adult website if he wants to stay in the race, Republican National Committee co-chair Michael Whatley said Tuesday.
“Those comments are absolutely antithetical to Republican values, and if Mark Robinson is going to continue in this race, then, yeah, I do think that he is going to have to demonstrate to the voters of North Carolina that those are not his words, his actions or his values,” Whatley said in an interview with Bloomberg radio.
Robinson has come under scrutiny after CNN reported comments in which the Republican gubernatorial candidate in North Carolina described himself as a “Black Nazi,” shared support for slavery, referred to Jewish people using anti-Semitic language and recounted memories of watching young women shower. He has denied the comments and suggested he’s been hacked.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has endorsed Robinson.
But at a rally he held over the weekend in North Carolina, which Robinson did not attend, the former president made no mention of him. Robinson, the state’s current lieutenant governor, saw several of his top aides - including his campaign manager and finance director - resign in the wake of the report.
The controversy threatens to damage Robinson’s support in the gubernatorial race, in which polls show him trailing Democratic counterpart Josh Stein. It also could impact Republican turnout in the swing state, which has traditionally voted Republican but has now become competitive with Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket.
An August Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll found Harris leading Trump in the state, 49% to 47%, with a RealClearPolitics polling average shows an even narrower spread and Trump with a slight edge. Both candidates have recently traveled to the state and are pouring money into advertising.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said on Friday the controversy could help Harris flip the state, where she’d already been “on track to make history” before the Robinson controversy.
“I think North Carolina can make history again, and I think this makes it more likely, because Donald Trump has embraced Mark Robinson,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
--With assistance from Matt Shirley and Joe Mathieu.
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