KENILWORTH, IL — Controversial and contentious Republican North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is scheduled to speak at an upcoming fundraiser on the North Shore, sparking sharp scrutiny amid reports of his scandalous statements and stances he expressed on a pornographic web forum.
Organized by the Tenth Congressional District Republicans, the event is set to take place Sept. 29 at an undisclosed location in Kenilworth.
Robinson, who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, is expected to help raise funds for local GOP candidates and support the Trump campaign’s efforts in the neighboring battleground state of Wisconsin.
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Trump has described Robinson, who came to national prominence by defending gun rights at a Greensboro City Council meeting in 2018, as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
“I told that to Mark. I said, ‘I think you’re better than Martin Luther King. I think you are Martin Luther King times two.’ And he looked at me, and I wasn’t sure, was he angry? Because that’s a terrible thing to say? Or was he complimented? I have never figured it out,” Trump told supporters.
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“When I said that to you, you looked like, I don’t know if I like that comment,” he told Robinson during a rally in North Carolina in March. “You should like it because you are outstanding and you’re going to be the next governor. So that’s going to be very cool.”
While Robinson’s supporters hail him as a champion of conservative values and a bold voice in the Republican Party, his critics point to a growing list of scandals and offensive statements, including comments unearthed from his past on a pornographic website that have intensified opposition to his Illinois appearance.
Robinson has repeatedly come under fire for inflammatory remarks targeting marginalized groups, including anti-LGBTQ+ slurs, Holocaust denial and derogatory comments about women.
Most recently, a CNN investigation revealed that, years before entering politics, Robinson had posted graphic and offensive statements on a pornographic website called Nude Africa.
During 2008 and 2012, Robinson reportedly made posts to the forum with racist and homophobic slurs, praise for transgender pornography and harsh criticism of Martin Luther King, Jr.
In the years-old forum posts, Robinson favored Adolf Hitler over the administration of Barack Obama and described himself as a “black NAZI.”
In response, Robinson told CNN that the posts were not his words.
“And this is not anything that is characteristic of me,” Robinson said.
Robinson suggested that he had been framed despite the evidence the network collected that links him to the username that made the posts.
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“I’m not going to get into the minutia of how somebody manufactured this,” he said, “these salacious tabloid lies.”
Tickets for Robinson’s upcoming Kenilworth fundraiser range from $50 to $150, with general admission priced at $50 per person or $75 per couple.
VIP attendees, who will have an opportunity to meet Robinson in person, can expect to pay $100 for an individual ticket or $150 for a couple.
In addition, sponsorship levels are available, with the highest tier, “Red” Sponsorship, requiring a donation of $5,000 or more. “White” Sponsorships are available for contributions between $3,000 and $4,999, while “Blue” Sponsorships range from $1,000 to $2,999.
Organizers have not responded to a request for comment and inquiry regarding how many people are expected to attend.
According to the event flyer, the Sept. 29 fundraiser is hosted by Chad Prodromos, who ran unsuccessfully for New Trier Township School District 203 four years ago, and his wife Marilyn, as well as New Trier Township Republican Committeeman Julie Cho, who ran unsuccessfully for the Illinois House six years ago, and 10th District GOP Committeeman Mark Shaw.
Shaw was recently ousted as vice chair of the party amid allegations that he voted improperly and challenged a rival to a fight at the state party convention.
Local Democrats described Robinson as a “notorious right-wing extremist” and accused him of Holocaust denial, downplaying slavery and declaring that some people need to be killed.
Lake County Democrats Chair Lauren Beth Gash said her group was distributing yard signs, making trips to Wisconsin and writing postcards to swing states.
“Local Republicans ought to be ashamed of working with anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ+, Holocaust denier Mark Robinson, but it’s not surprising considering how deeply they’ve become the Party of Trump, even promoting the effort to help him win outside of Illinois too,” Gash said in a statement. “Lake County voters are tired of this hateful, dangerous pollution of our democracy, and they’re going to reject Republican candidates once again.”
Robinson will not attend Trump’s rally in North Carolina on Saturday, though he had been a regular at past events there.
Thursday was the deadline for the lieutenant governor to withdraw as a candidate on the November ballot, the Associated Press reported, but Robinson has pledged to stay in the race.
Recent polls show him trailing his Democratic opponent, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, who has outspent Robinson by a margin of more than 3-1.
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