• North Carolina Republican gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson reportedly called himself a "black NAZI" and said "slavery is not bad" in years-old comments on an online pornographic forum, CNN reports.
• "Let me reassure you, the things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson," the Republican said in a statement on X.
• Robinson also signaled he would not drop out of the race in battleground North Carolina, where the first absentee ballots are set to be sent out Friday.

North Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson called himself a "black NAZI" and said "slavery is not bad" in years-old comments on an online pornographic forum, CNN reported Thursday.

Robinson, the controversial lieutenant governor of the key presidential battleground state, also posted graphic sexual messages in dozens of posts on that forum through an account linked to him, according to CNN's "KFile."

The candidate, who has been praised by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as recently as last month, referred to himself on that forum as a "perv" with an affinity for transgender porn, per CNN.

Reached for comment, Robinson's campaign spokesman Michael Lonergan pointed CNBC to a video in which the Republican denies the report and accuses his Democratic opponent, state Attorney General Josh Stein, of leaking the story to CNN.

"Let me reassure you, the things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson," the candidate said in the straight-to-camera statement shared on X less than an hour before the report published.

Ahead of CNN's bombshell, Robinson was under pressure from staff and members of the Trump campaign to drop out of the race, the Carolina Journal reported, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.

The Trump campaign denied it was pushing Robinson to withdraw. "That's absolutely inaccurate," spokesman Brian Hughes told NBC News.

Robinson in Thursday's video signaled he would not leave the race in North Carolina, where the first absentee ballots are set to be sent out Friday.

Recent polls on the race for North Carolina's top job show Stein leading Robinson, at times by wide margins. The Democrat on Thursday launched a new "Republicans for Stein" initiative.

Robinson, who won his state's GOP gubernatorial primary in March, has already been at the center of a series of controversies and scandals.

Among the most recent: a Sept. 3 report from North Carolina investigative outlet The Assembly, that Robinson frequented 24-hour porn shops' private video booths as often as five nights a week in the 1990s and early 2000s.

His campaign spokesman denied that report and lashed out at the reporters, accusing them of being "degenerates."

Robinson has also previously been accused of antisemitism and Holocaust denial, partly due to his 2018 Facebook post that said, "This foolishness about Hitler disarming MILLIONS of Jews and then marching them off to concentration camps is a bunch of hogwash."

He has denied being an antisemite.

Robinson, a staunch abortion opponent, also said during the 2024 campaign that his wife had an abortion 30 years earlier, calling it "a very difficult decision."

The statement followed reports about Robinson's 2019 comment that abortion "is not about protecting the lives of mothers ... It is about killing the child because you weren't responsible enough to keep your skirt down."

Despite those and other divisive remarks, Robinson has repeatedly garnered praise from Trump.

In March, Trump compared Robinson to civil rights legend Martin Luther King Jr. "on steroids." At an Aug. 21 campaign rally in Asheboro, North Carolina, Trump called Robinson a "good man" and said he's "gotta win."

Robinson spoke at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in mid-July.

Trump is set to return to the Tar Heel state on Saturday for a rally focused on jobs, inflation and the economy.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.