Surprise: NC Gubernatorial Candidate Mark Robinson, Who Wants to “Go Back to the America Where Women Couldn’t Vote,” Has Said Some Shitty Things About Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault

If you’re familiar with North Carolina gubernatorial hopeful Mark Robinson, you likely know that the Trump-backed GOP candidate has a history of saying awful things about women, feminism, the Holocaust, Muslims, the LGBTQ+ community, and at least one school shooting survivor. (Naturally, he’s also a conspiracy theorist who has said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if 9/11 turned out to be an inside job or if the 1969 moon landing had been faked, and that he’s “SERIOUSLY skeptical” JFK was assassinated.) All of which makes it pretty unsurprising but no less abhorrent to learn that his views on domestic violence and sexual assault are…not what any reasonable person would want in their elected officials, or fellow humans.

The Washington Post reports that “a review of Robinson’s social media posts over the past decade shows that he frequently questioned the credibility of women who aired allegations of sexual assault against prominent men, including Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, actor Bill Cosby, and now US Supreme Court justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.” For example, in one post, he wrote: “Harvey Weinstein and the rest of these high profile Hollywood elites were merely sacrificial lambs. They have been slaughtered in order to smear the airwaves with talk of ‘sexual harassment’ and how pervasive the culture of ‘toxic masculinity’ is in America. Now that it’s front and center and ‘fresh’ on the minds of the masses all they have to do is simply ‘accuse’ an enemy…then sit back and watch.” In another, he seemed to suggest that Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford was making up her allegations, as were “those women who accused Roy Moore,” a.k.a. the former GOP nominee for US Senate in Alabama, who, per the Post, “was accused of sexual assault or questionable behavior by at least eight women—including one who alleged that Moore initiated a sexual encounter when she was 14 and he was 32.” (Moore has denied all wrongdoing, as has Kavanaugh.)

And his commentary didn’t stop there:

Robinson similarly shared memes mocking actress Ashley Judd, who accused Weinstein of sexual assault. And he repeatedly suggested that the sexual harassment claims brought against male public figures was the result of a broader conspiracy, claiming, among other outlandish theories, that the Illuminati were involved in publicizing accusations against Cosby. And during a 2018 radio interview, Robinson said that terminations for sexual harassment in workplaces was a “concerted effort by the left…where fear rules.”

Robinson also wrote repeatedly of a 2014 domestic violence encounter involving then NFL star Ray Rice, who was seen on a surveillance video dragging his apparently unconscious fiancée out of an elevator. In a post directed at Rice’s “lady friend,” Robinson suggested the woman was at fault for the physical altercation. “I’m a 350lb man but aint no way in HELL I’m gonna’ slap no pro football player,” Robinson wrote on Facebook. “I’m to old for an a$$whoopin.’”

In a 2017 Facebook post, he wrote, “So if someone beats the bird dog hell of their spouse at the mall….is it still ‘Domestic Violence?’” A year later, he wondered aloud: “So if a woman who ‘transitioned’ into a ‘man’ marries and abuses a man who ‘transitioned’ into a ‘woman’ is it still ‘violence against a woman?’ Will the feminist raise hell over it? I’m asking for a British Cigarette.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Robinson’s campaign told the Post: “No matter how many partisan hit pieces The Washington Post cranks out, if and when he should become governor, Mark Robinson will take the oath and duties of his office with the utmost respect, working to make North Carolina better for people of all backgrounds and walks of life; by growing our economy, reforming our schools and creating a culture of life that does more to support mothers and families.”

Trump endorsed Robinson in March, saying at a campaign rally: “I told that to Mark. I said, I think you’re better than Martin Luther King. I think you are Martin Luther King times two.”

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