Donald Trump’s running mate Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) said the allegations against North Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson “aren’t necessarily reality.”
“The allegations are pretty far out there, of course, but I know that allegations aren’t necessarily reality,” Vance told NBC 10 Philadelphia.
In a stunning report published Thursday, CNN revealed that Robinson made several sexually explicit and racially charged comments on a porn website’s message board, including calling himself a “black NAZI, expressing support for slavery, repeatedly using homophobic slurs and fondly recalled “peeping” on women.
Robinson denies that he was the one posting the comments in an interview with CNN and is refusing to drop out of the race ignoring calls from the NAACP, North Carolina newspaper editorial boards and some Republicans to do so.
“I think fundamentally it’s Mark Robinson and the people of North Carolina who get to decide whether he’s their governor, and that’s what we’re going to focus on,” Vance said.
Asked whether he believes Robinson’s claims that the porn message board comments were not made by him, Vance said the situation needed to “play out.”
“I don’t not believe him. I don’t believe him,” he said. “I just think that these things sometimes play out in the court of public opinion. He’s going to make whatever arguments he wants to make. I’m sure the news media and others are going to investigate these comments further.”
Donald Trump held a rally in North Carolina on Saturday but steered clear of any mention of Robinson, who was a constant presence at the former president’s events in the state.
In March, Trump endorsed Robinson at a rally, calling the lieutenant governor “Martin Luther King [Jr.] on steroids,” “better than Martin Luther King,” and even “Martin Luther King times two.”
Vance is scheduled to hold a campaign event in North Carolina next week, but he told NBC that there are no plans to campaign with Robinson.
