Mark Keith Robinson

Mark Keith Robinson 35th Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina  [source]
Personal Details
Name	Mark Keith Robinson
Position	Incumbent (assumed office 2021-10-29)
Governor	Roy Asberry Cooper III (D-NC)
Preceded by	Dan Forest (34th Lt. Gov. of N.C.)
Born	1968-08-08
Birthplace	Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.A.
Spouse	Yolanda Hill
Marital status	Married
Children	2
Parents	Father: abusive
Siblings	9th of 10 children
Nationality	American
Residence	High Point, North Carolina, U.S.A.
Education	North Carolina A&T State University University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Former occupation	Furniture factory worker
Profession	Politician
Military service	U.S. Army:  United States Army Reserve (1985-1989)
Known for	Anti-abortion Anti-gun control Anti-LGBT (homophobia; transphobia) Anti-Semitism Conspiracy theories Culture warrior Climate change denial Anti-Muslim
Religion
Political party	Republican Party
Political position	U.S. conservatism
Ideology	Christian right Anti-LGBT  (Transphobia) Racist (anti-Semitism; Islamophobia Conspiracy theorist Pseudoscience (climate change denial)

Background

Mark Keith Robinson (born August 8, 1968) is an American politician serving as the 35th lieutenant governor of North Carolina since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he is the first African-American to hold the office. After defeating Democratic Party nominee Yvonne Lewis Holley in the 2020 lieutenant gubernatorial election, Mark Robinson succeeded Republican Dan Forest, who had made an unsuccessful run for the governorship of North Carolina against incumbent Democrat Roy Cooper.

Early Life and Education

Mark Robinson was born in , North Carolina, as the ninth of ten children. His father was abusive, and he and his siblings lived in foster care for part of their childhood. He was a graduate of Grimsley High School. From 1985 to 1989, Mark Robinson served in the . Robinson worked at a furniture factory and had begun to study history at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Political career

In April 2018, Mark Robinson attended a meeting of the Greensboro City Council, where they debated whether or not to cancel a gun show in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting (2018, Parkland, Florida). Robinson spoke in favor of gun rights, and video of his speech went viral after it was shared on Facebook by Mark Walker. Mark Robinson was invited to speak at the National Rifle Association's annual convention that year.

2020 Campaign

Mark Robinson ran in the 2020 election for lieutenant governor of North Carolina. He won the Republican nomination, clearing the 30% threshold to avoid a primary runoff, defeating state senator Andy Wells, superintendent of public instruction Mark Johnson, former congresswoman Renee Ellmers, and former state representative Scott Stone. He faced Democratic Party nominee Yvonne Lewis Holley in the general election in November, in a race in which either Robinson or Holley would become North Carolina's first African-American lieutenant governor. Robinson was elected.

Mark Robinson's 2020 campaign finance reports contained incomplete information on his campaign contributors, and shows questionable campaign expenditures, including spending on items for clothing for Robinson and wife. Robinson reported $186 for medical bills and for $2,840 for "campaign clothes and accessories" (most of it spent at a sporting goods shop), but failed to explain why these expenditures were campaign-related. The reports stated that Robinson's wife spent $4,500 for "campaign clothing" but gave no details. The reports also stated that Robinson withdrew an unexplained $2,400 in cash in apparent violation of a state law requiring all candidate cash payment over $50 to be accompanied by a detailed description explaining of what the money was for. After these expenses came under scrutiny in 2021, Robinson's campaign blamed "clerical errors;" the executive director of the watchdog group Common Cause North Carolina filed a formal complaint with the State Board of Elections over the discrepancies.

Political Views, Conspiracy-Theory Promotion and Incendiary Remarks

Mark Robinson has promoted his persona as a "brash and unfiltered conservative culture warrior." Mark Robinson opposes abortion, promotes climate change denial, and opposes the legalization of recreational marijuana.

Mark Robinson's past antisemitic comments have drawn scrutiny and condemnation. He claimed that the movie Black Panther was "created by an agnostic Jew and put to film by satanic Marxist" that was "only created to pull the shekels out of your Schvartze pockets" (using a Yiddish word for Black). Robinson also appeared at an interview with fringe pastor Sean Moon, who claimed that he planned to become "king of the United States;" in the interview, Moon claimed that the Rothschild family was one of the "four horsemen of the apocalypse" and promoted the antisemitic conspiracy theory of a cabal of Jewish "international bankers" who rule every country's central bank. Robinson endorsed Moon's claim as "exactly right." Robinson's statements, as well as his refusal to apologize or retract them, has alarmed North Carolina's Jewish community.

On his Facebook page - which has more than 100,000 followers - Mark Robinson's posts often impugns   transgender people  [transphobia],   Muslims, former President Barack Obama, and African-Americans who support Democrats, have drawn criticism. Robinson accused people "who support this mass delusion called transgenderism" of seeking "to glorify Satan". Robinson called former President Obama "a worthless, anti-American atheist" and posted "birther" memes; accused American Muslims of being "INVADERS" who "refuse to assimilate to our ways while demanding respect they have not earned;" called Michelle Obama a man; and disparaged Joy Behar and Maxine Waters in crude terms. After the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting (Orlando, Florida), Robinson wrote that "Homosexuality is STILL an abominable sin and I WILL NOT join in 'celebrating gay pride.'" In 2020, Robinson asserted that the coronavirus was a "globalist" conspiracy to defeat Donald Trump, and dismissed the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, writing, "The looming pandemic I'm most worried about is SOCIALISM."

The Charlotte Observer editorial board described Mark Robinson's posts as "cringeworthy" and "an embarrassment" while the state Democratic Party called them "homophobic, anti-Semitic, and downright unhinged." Robinson's posts were also criticized by Equality North Carolina and Jewish community leaders in North Carolina. When asked about the posts, Robinson declined to apologize, referring to his posts as "my personal opinions" and saying "I'm not ashamed of anything that I post."

Tenure

Mark Robinson was sworn in on January 9, 2021. As lieutenant governor in June 2021, Robinson delivered a speech in which he disparaged "transgenderism and homosexuality" as "filth," saying: "There's no reason anybody anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality, any of that filth. And yes I called it filth. And if you don't like that I called it filth, come see me and I'll explain it to you." In the same speech, which was delivered at a Seagrove, North Carolina, church, he called for an end to the separation of church and state in public schools. In October 2021, after Robinson's speech was brought to light by Right Wing Watch, Democratic state senator Jeff Jackson called for Robinson to resign, and Governor Roy Cooper's office said that "It's abhorrent to hear anyone, and especially an elected official, use hateful rhetoric that hurts people and our state's reputation." North Carolina Attorney General   Josh Stein made similar comments. The Biden administration, through a statement by White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, condemned Robinson's words as "repugnant and offensive" and said that a leader's role is "to bring people together and stand up for the dignity and rights of everyone; not to spread hate and undermine their own office."

Personal Life

Mark Robinson and his wife, Yolanda, have two children. They live in High Point, North Carolina. Robinson has filed for bankruptcy on three occasions, has been sued for payments, and had liens placed on him by the Internal Revenue Service as recently as 2012. He has claimed that any outstanding issues with the IRS have been "taken care of."

Elections

Additional Reading

North Carolina's Christian nationalist Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who recently announced that he's "about 95 percent sure" that he will be running for governor in 2024, spoke at a Stand Up For America rally in Raleigh, North Carolina Friday morning [2021-10-29], where he thundered that "the Christian patriots of this nation will own this nation and rule this nation."

Mark Robinson began his speech by thanking God and declaring that anyone who doesn't agree that the United States is a Christian nation is free to go live somewhere else. "You can leave God's country, and we will not miss you," Robinson said. Later, Robinson told the crowd that they are God's regiment on Earth and "the living embodiment" of all those who have sacrificed their lives in defense of this nation.

"Tell our enemies on the other side of the aisle that will drag this nation down into a socialist hellhole that you will only do it as you run past me laying on the ground, choking on my own blood because I will not give up this nation to you!" Mark Robinson bellowed  [YouTube link]. "It is not yours. You did not build it, you did not defend it, and you will not own it. We will. The Christian patriots of this nation will own this nation and rule this nation and help freedom survive for future generations."

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