RALEIGH, N.C. — Gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has hired a lawyer after CNN tied him to graphic, offensive and racist comments posted online about a decade ago.

The announcement comes as high-ranking Republicans in office or who are running in the November elections in North Carolina have started to make their thoughts heard. Many called on Robinson to “prove” his claim that he was in fact not behind the posts.

Hal Weatherman, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, said Tuesday on X that Robinson “should conclusively and quickly prove false the allegations against him. If he can prove this isn’t true and was fabricated to hurt him, he will win in a landslide.”

“But if he fails to do so, he will lose, because the comments being attributed to him are highly disturbing.”

Brad Briner, the Republican candidate for state treasurer, said Monday that Robinson should either “put these allegations to rest in the coming days” or leave the race.

Hiring a lawyer

Robinson has hired the Binnall Law Group to “lead the efforts to investigate the outrageous lies from CNN’s latest smear of Lieutenant Governor and Republican nominee for Governor Mark Robinson,” according to a news release from Robinson’s campaign for governor.

“As I’ve said from the beginning, the claims from CNN are salacious lies. I will not let these attacks distract us from sharing a better future for our state, and I’m glad to be able to bring Jesse Binnall and his team on board to investigate where and how these false smears originated. I am confident that Binnall Law Group will leave no stone unturned and enable us to use every legal means to hold CNN accountable for their lies. In the meantime, my campaign remains laser-focused on the issues at stake in this election,” Robinson said in a statement in the release.

“My team and I are looking forward to getting to the bottom of CNN’s claims and we will bring all our resources to bear in getting to the facts. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, his family and the voters of North Carolina deserve nothing less,” said Jesse R. Binnall, a partner at the Binnall Law Group, according to the release.

According to a CNN report released last week Thursday, Robinson made a series of online comments on a porn site, including calling himself a “Black Nazi” and saying, “Slavery is not bad.” Robinson also allegedly described instances where he spied on women in gym showers as a 14-year-old and used a racial slur against the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., among other things.

He has denied being the author of these posts and did not drop out of the race by the deadline to do so, meaning he’ll likely remain as the GOP’s candidate. On Monday, Robinson said he’d take legal action against CNN for “salacious lies,” reported The Charlotte Observer.

He’s faced several staff resignations since the CNN news dropped.

Top Republicans say prove reports false or step aside

Multiple polls have show Robinson trailing significantly behind Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Attorney General Josh Stein. A poll conducted by Elon University before the news broke about Robinson show Stein holding a commanding lead over Robinson, 49% to 35%, The News & Observer reported.

The lieutenant governor in North Carolina doesn’t have too many responsibilities but is tasked with breaking ties in the Senate, which can be crucial in a divided legislature.

Robinson’s “entire campaign strategy should be focused on proving the allegations false,” Weatherman, the lieutenant governor candidate, wrote. “During this process I and the other Republican candidates need to stay focused on winning our own races.

Weatherman is the former chief of staff to former Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and ran Forest’s unsuccessful campaign for governor in 2020. He also held a brief stint on the staff of defeated former U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, The N&O previously reported.

Briner, the treasurer candidate, said Monday that he agreed “with our United States Senators, if Mark Robinson cannot put these allegations to rest in the coming days, he should step aside for a candidate that can turn the focus of the campaign back to issues like inflation, healthcare costs and taxes that voters tell me they are concerned about.”

U.S. Sen. Ted Budd and U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson have called on Robinson to prove he was not behind those posts. U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards has said in a statement he found the report “shocking” but said Robinson should be allowed to “make his case to voters,” The N&O previously reported.

On Friday, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis wrote on X that that if the report is false, Robinson needed to take legal action against the media, or if it’s true, he should “put the future of NC & our party before himself,” implying he should exit the race.

Another GOP candidate running in a statewide election who made their stance heard recently was U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop, who is running to become the state’s next attorney general.

During his speech at a Trump rally in Wilmington on Saturday, Bishop said just as in 1898 — a reference to the Wilmington coup and massacre — “the Democrats and their complicit media will stop at nothing in their thirst for total power.”

And “this week in North Carolina, Democrats suddenly abandoned their aversion to hack and dump, rolled out a meticulously timed and coordinated character assassination and then moved immediately to smear by association. Their aim, they say, is to disgrace not just one but all Republican candidates.”

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