Mark Robinson, the former North Carolina lieutenant governor and 2024 Republican nominee for governor, has publicly admitted he was not honest about key parts of his past during last year’s campaign. In a newly released podcast interview, Robinson said he lied about what he called an "obsession with sex and pornography" and stuck to those denials while he was on the trail. The remarks are his most extensive public comments since his loss in November.
The News & Observer reported details from the roughly hour-long conversation, released March 19, in which Robinson acknowledged being "untruthful" about parts of his history. According to the paper, he said he only began "acknowledging the truth" after the election, and the outlet described the podcast as the most candid explanation he has offered about the controversies that dogged his bid for governor.
Local outlet ABC11 reported that Robinson told the hosts he denied the allegations at the time to shield people around him - including former President Donald Trump - and said he would make the same choice again. As ABC11 noted, the appearance is Robinson’s first extended public statement since the campaign, and it directly undercuts the firm denials he issued while he was seeking the governor’s mansion.
The new admission also collides with a September 2024 investigation by CNN, which tied Robinson to dozens of inflammatory and sexual posts on a pornography forum under the username "minisoldr." According to CNN, the posts included lewd and racist language and circulated widely during the campaign. Robinson repeatedly rejected that reporting at the time.
Legal fallout and campaign aftermath
As the CNN story was gaining traction, Robinson filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against the network during the 2024 campaign, then dropped the case after the election. The Associated Press reported that his campaign brought in outside counsel to challenge CNN’s reporting and that several senior staffers resigned amid the uproar.
Court records in the high-dollar fight, covered by Robinson’s defamation battle, show how aggressively both sides initially postured. The North State Journal reported that Robinson later announced he would not pursue the suit any further or seek public office again.
What it means for state politics
Robinson’s about-face comes as North Carolina Republicans continue to sort through what went wrong in 2024, when Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein defeated him by a substantial margin. TIME highlighted Stein’s win and the role the CNN report played in reshaping how voters viewed Robinson in the final stretch of the race.
The episode is expected to influence how state Republicans vet future nominees and how national figures approach their endorsements in North Carolina. For now, Robinson’s podcast appearance adds fresh detail to the controversies that defined his campaign and revives the questions many voters were already asking about his honesty and judgment. The hour-long interview is likely to keep his political story alive a bit longer, even as the state’s attention shifts to the next round of races.
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