Mark Robinson, Republican candidate for North Carolina governor, speaks at a rally in Burnsville, Sept. 14, 2024. Photo: Angela Wilhelm/Citizen Times/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images
Black pastors have criticized North Carolina gubernatorial candidate and Lt. Governor Mark Robinson (R) for his previous comments about civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., but white evangelicals continue to praise Robinson.
Earlier this month, a CNN investigation revealed that Robinson had previously called himself a “black Nazi” on a pornography website and said he would own slaves if he could. He also said of Martin Luther King Jr., “Get that damn Communist off the National Mall! I’m not a member of the KKK. They don’t allow black people in. If I was a member of the KKK, I’d call him Martin Lucifer Coon!” He also said that King was “worse than a maggot” and a “con man.”
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King’s son, Martin Luther King III, condemned Robinson’s comments. tell NBC News “His glorification of slavery, derogatory rhetoric and bizarre portrayal of my father and his legacy should be deeply disturbing to North Carolinians and all Americans who oppose racism and bigotry.”
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King III said he and his wife support Robinson’s opponent, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, as well as “local candidates who will stand up for the women, black and brown people of North Carolina and all the other people that Mark Robinson despises.”
Bishop Sir Walter Mack of Winston-Salem’s Union Baptist Church also echoed Robinson’s comments, saying, “What we need to do is help people understand what Dr. King stood for. He was trying to unite people, to bring people together in a spirit of love, and that is the language and the approach that we need to uphold today. We’re not going to celebrate anyone or anything that is contrary to what Dr. King did and his legacy. It’s all about the love that he showed.”
Michal Brickhouse of Baptist Grove Church in Raleigh said Robinson’s comments “show political leaders who espouse a narrative of hate and chauvinism and create more problems by portraying leaders of unity as a threat. Instead of spreading polarization and nastiness, we must learn from the lessons of history and remember the negative impact of diminishing the humanity of others to exaggerate our own superiority.”
“As a black man in America, to disparage the sacrificial labor of Dr. King and the soldiers of the nonviolent civil rights movement is an affront to his ancestors and the freedoms he enjoys, among other repulsive and false claims,” said Eric Vickers, pastor of Fairfield Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia. “It reduces him to a blackface bigot, a mascot for Project 2025.”
“At this point, the best way forward for Mr Robinson is to get out of the church,” Vickers added. “Voting in this election clearly matters a lot, and the church should be concerned about what kind of society they inherit if they don’t get involved.”
Former President Donald Trump called Robinson “Martin Luther King on steroids” when he endorsed him, even though Robinson had previously called King a “bad pastor and a communist” and the civil rights movement a communist plot to “overthrow capitalism” and “subvert free choice.”
Robinson has said publicly that she has no plans to withdraw from the race, having missed the window to formally drop out last week, while Stein has a 14-point lead. Recent Opinion Polls By Elon University.
Meanwhile, white evangelicals are supporting Robinson.
“I don’t know what’s true and what’s not true,” said Dwight Frazier, a member of Central Baptist Church in Henderson who attended a luncheon hosted by the American Renewal Project, a group that promotes Christian pastors and believers in North Carolina political circles. “Everybody has made mistakes in the past and done things they’re not proud of. I think he loves God and he’s trying to do the right thing. In my opinion, he’s still a good person.”
David Lane, founder and leader of the American Renewal Project, argued that Robinson is “incredible.”
“I don’t know what’s true and what’s false in terms of the accusations against him, but I don’t regret anything we did,” Lane said. “He was a great man, but from a biblical perspective, from the Old Testament and the New Testament, man is born sinful.”
In addition to making racist remarks, Robinson has admitted to enjoying transgender pornography and has notoriously called for the arrest of transgender bathroom users and the murder of LGBTQ+ people.
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