In short political career, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson leaves long trail of controversial statements
In North Carolina, the office of lieutenant governor lends itself well to someone who wants to use it as a bully pulpit — and few have seized the opportunity quite like Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who on Saturday announced plans to run for governor in 2024.
Sure, the Republican sits on various state boards and wields a gavel in the state senate. He’s also a heartbeat away from being governor, should anything happen to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. But the lieutenant governor can’t enact executive orders and can only vote on senate bills to break ties.
The office comes with a big title but little power compared to other positions on North Carolina’s Council of State. So over the past half-century, dating back even before former Gov. Jim Hunt’s tenure as lieutenant governor in the 1970s, every officeholder has tried to use the platform as a springboard to the Governor’s Mansion.
Robinson’s ambitions were evident early. Only three months after being sworn-in to his first elected position, Robinson said he was considering a run for U.S. Senate. Then, 10 months into his term, Robinson said he was “95% sure” he'd run for governor.
And he certainly acted like it. The 54-year-old Greensboro native has traveled in and out of the state giving speeches at churches, National Rifle Association events, and the national Conservative Political Action Conference – which features many of the hottest up-and-coming Republican figures.
For as much as Robinson’s words have excited the Republican base, they’ve also drawn outrage from liberals and sparked concern among GOP campaign strategists who worry that his language hurts the party’s chances of winning the state’s top office.
At a Robinson campaign rally Saturday, a group of more than a dozen protesters stood at the entrance, holding signs that said: "He is not our man.” And moments after Robinson’s announcement, the North Carolina Democratic Party issued a statement calling him “an extremist who has built a legacy of division by spewing hate toward the LGBTQ community [and] disrespecting women.”
Robinson’s campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment, but Robinson acknowledged in his speech that his comments have gotten him in trouble in the past. More recently, he has dialed back some of the more divisive rhetoric in his speeches and has begun to focus on issues that might appeal to a wider range of voters.
In a speech last month, Robinson lamented how society is politically divided. “Thoughtful discussion is often replaced with tweets, sound bites and heated rhetoric,” he said, causing political observers to wonder if he would take a more measured tone on the campaign trail.
Regardless of his approach going forward, Robinson’s past statements will follow him, rallying his base or his opponents’.
Here’s a rundown of some of his most controversial comments, which may show up on the campaign trail.
Gun rights, uses
Robinson owes much of his popularity within the GOP to his support for gun rights.
He delivered an impassioned speech at a 2018 meeting of Greensboro City Council, which was considering canceling a gun show after a mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Video of Robinson’s speech caught the attention of conservative pundits and ultimately helped launch his political career.
Since taking office, Robinson has consistently expressed support for proposals that increase access to firearms — and his rhetoric has worried leaders on the other side of the political aisle. At a Nash County church last May, Robinson said he owns an AR-15 and mused about using it on government officials.
“I got them AR-15s in case the government gets too big for its britches,” Robinson told the church. “Because I’m going to fill the backside of those britches with some lead. I’m going to say it to you plain: Your boy ain't going down without swinging.”
He then dismissed concerns from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, also a gubernatorial candidate, who said they feared Robinson’s comments would inspire violence.
“No one with a brain thinks I’m calling for people to attack government officials,” Robinson responded in a statement. “The Framers gave us the Second Amendment to protect us from a tyrannical government. Period. Don’t be surprised if these two career politicians continue to attack me and try to skew my words — they are scared of me, and they don’t want me to be governor.”
Abortion comments, history
One of Robinson’s most well known positions may be his opposition to abortion — and his own history with it.
Even before running for office, Robinson had claimed that abortion is wrong because “God says so.” He said the U.S. would feel “the wrath of God” if voters allowed it to become an accepted part of society. He doubled down on that claim just days after he was inaugurated, telling ralliers at a March for Life event that the nation’s fate was tied to its abortion laws.
“We allow the murder of the most innocent human beings on earth and we do it with impunity,” he said. “If we do not purge abortion from our shores for the cause of life the same way we purged slavery for the cause of liberty, this nation will not continue to stand.”
Then, last year, Robinson faced accusations of hypocrisy after news broke that he had paid for his own wife’s abortion in 1989.
While some Republicans praised Robinson’s testimony, the North Carolina Democratic Party said the GOP “ought to offer the same respect and privacy to every pregnant person’s health care decisions that they are giving to [Robinson].”
Robinson told WRAL that the experience was “something that I’ve wanted to talk about for years, but there’s confidentiality that I have to be concerned about."
He later posted a video to social media. With his wife by his side, Robinson said the choice “was the hardest decision we have ever made, and, sadly, we made the wrong one.” He added: “It's because of this experience and our spiritual journey that we are so adamantly pro-life.”
LBGTQ community, ‘filth’
It’s unclear whether Robinson’s views on abortion – which polls show are out of step with North Carolina voters – will derail his campaign. GOP insiders have, however, said Robinson’s comments about gay and transgender people could cost him his next statewide race.
At the state GOP’s convention in June 2021, Robinson spoke out against transgender athletes competing against women, saying: “I want to be that person at the track meet that stands up and says … ‘Them two fellas that won this track meet — they’re not girls. Why are they out there?’” he said. “That’s two boys. I don’t care what you call them. They’re painted-up, striped-up jackasses. They’re not women.”
At a church in Seagrove that same month, Robinson said no one should teach children in classrooms about “transgenderism, homosexuality — any of that filth.”
At a church in Winston-Salem that November, Robinson targeted gay and lesbian people, saying: “Everything that God made serves a purpose. Will somebody please explain to me the purpose of homosexuality? ... What does it create? It creates nothing."
GOP strategists have said Robinson’s rhetoric could threaten his ability to attract enough support from critical suburban voters.
Robinson has said those comments were about LGBTQ-themed books that he wants out of school libraries and aren't against any individuals because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. He’s pushed to have at least three LGBTQ-themed books removed from North Carolina schools, calling them “sexually explicit.”
Women, leadership, submission
Robinson’s comments about gender roles extend beyond the transgender community. In a speech at a Charlotte church last May, Robinson acknowledged that he was “getting ready to get in trouble.” He then said: “We are called to be led by men.”
“God sent women out … when they had to do their thing, but when it was time to face down Goliath, [He] sent David. Not Davida, David,” he said. Robinson went on to say that, in the Bible, God sent Moses to lead the Israelites. “Not Momma Moses,” he said. “Daddy Moses.”
After news outlets reported on Robinson’s comments, he released a video on social media in which he suggested they had been twisted.
“For someone to insinuate that I don’t believe that women can be leaders in their homes, and in their communities, and in their churches, and in their state, and in their nation, is absolutely, 100% ridiculous,” he said in the video. “... The comments that I made at Freedom House Church were directed towards men and encouraging men to stand up and take on the role of leadership as well to be leaders in their homes and in their communities in this state in their nation."
In the memoir Robinson released last year, “We Are the Majority: The Life and Passions of a Patriot,” he brags about not backing down from women.
“I have found that women in general don’t like to be out-talked,” he wrote. “When you go out in groups, it often comes down to discussions, women on one side, men on the other. And back then, I’d be just hurling it. Often women would get quite angry. They love to be able to talk a man into submission. And with me, it never happens. They can’t do it.”
Education, racial issues
In his memoir, Robinson calls for simplifying North Carolina’s education system — in ways that could certainly come back to bite him on the campaign trail. He calls for eliminating the state Board of Education altogether.
“We need to have one entity, one person, where the buck stops,” Robinson, who sits on the state board, writes. “Right now we have at least three: the school boards, the state superintendent of education and the local school systems—and none are truly answerable to the others. We need one entity to be in charge of education in the state so that when the legislature has questions and concerns, they can go to that single institution and expect to influence the way education is done.”
He also said he’d try to reduce the scope of an elementary school education to just reading, writing and math.
“In those grades, we don’t need to be teaching social studies,” he writes. “We don’t need to be teaching science. We surely don’t need to be talking about equity and social justice.”
A task force Robinson created to snuff out “indoctrination” in North Carolina’s public K-12 classrooms is among his most tangible achievements. Critics accused Robinson’s group, known as the Fairness and Accountability in the Classroom for Teachers and Students task force, or FACTS, of trying to scare educators out of teaching controversial subjects.
“It's McCarthyism. It's the Red Scare all over again,” said Lauren Piner, a high school history teacher at South Central High School in Pitt County. “Instead of looking for, you know, Soviets and Marxists in Hollywood and in the government, we're looking for them in our classrooms.”
