‘We are staying in this race’: behind the unraveling of Mark Robinson’s campaign in North Carolina

Mark Robinson, North Carolina's tub-thumping Republican candidate for governor, had been trying to extricate himself from problems caused by his own words long before CNN dumped a truckload of dirt on him Thursday afternoon.

Robinson has treated outrage over his ever-increasing litany of racist, sexist, homophobic and antisemitic offense as a badge of honor during the course of the campaign and his term as the state's lieutenant governor. But CNN's report tilled his pornographic internet history, unearthing comments that still managed the power to shock.

CNN's report connects Robinson's name, email address and biographical details to the "minisoldr" persona, where Robinson described himself as a "Black NAZI!", praised Hitler, described Martin Luther King Jr in racially offensive terms, expressed sexual interest in transgender pornography and described peeping on girls in a public shower when he was 14.

"Slavery is not bad," Robinson reportedly wrote. "Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it [slavery] back. I would certainly buy a few."

CNN refrained from exposing the entirety of its findings because some of it was too disturbing to address in public, the news organization said.

Shortly before the report came out, Robinson claimed he would remain in the race. If Robinson did not drop out before midnight, he couldn't drop out; the deadline in North Carolina would have passed.

Knowing how the left has sought the removal of supreme court justice Clarence Thomas for receiving questionable largesse from billionaires, it was characteristic of Robinson to liken his situation to Thomas's "hi-tech lynching" 33 years ago over allegations of sexual misconduct with Anita Hill. "We're not going to let them do that. We are staying in this race. We're in it to win it," Robinson said.