North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, R, also the state’s Republican gubernatorial candidate, is suing CNN for $50 million for defamation. The lawsuit stems from CNN’s report that claimed Robinson made racist and sexually depraved comments on a pornography message board more than a decade ago.
The CNN report detailed Robinson allegedly referring to himself as a “Black Nazi” who wanted to reinstate slavery and described spying on women in showers.
Robinson denied the report, calling it “salacious tabloid trash.”
In the days following the report, several of Robinson’s campaign staffers resigned, and Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, distanced himself from Robinson after previously endorsing him.
Robinson’s polling numbers soon collapsed, with a poll from High Point University putting him ahead of his opponent, Democrat and current North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, by 5% back in May. Now, according to RealClearPolitics, Robinson sits over 15 percentage points behind his election opponent.
In the lawsuit, filed in Wake County Superior Court, Robinson claims CNN’s report was a “coordinated attack aimed at derailing his campaign for governor, and has already inflicted immeasurable harm to his family, his reputation and his good name.”
CNN has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.
