North Carolina GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson is known for having a long history of peddling conspiracy theories.
It turns out he’s got a long history of something else, too: demeaning successful women.
Robinson, who is currently the state’s lieutenant governor and leading Republican candidate for governor, has lashed out at nearly two dozen women who are public figures in politics and entertainment.
A review of his Facebook posts over the years reveals a pattern of offensive and disgusting language in the way he talks about prominent women, including former First Lady Michelle Obama, singer Taylor Swift and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Those are just Robinson’s attacks on women in politics. He’s made disparaging comments about lots of women in entertainment, too.
- Alyssa Milano. He said she is a “Hollywood moron” and, in the same post, called Hollywood a “cesspool of drunken, drug addicted, hypocritical leftists, pedophiles, and rapist(s).”
- Ashley Judd. He posted a meme accusing actress Judd of “trading sex for an Oscar,” which the meme said “is not rape. Its actually much more like prostitution.”
- Beyoncé. He said Beyoncé “teaches our young women how to be hyper-sexual whores” and that “SHE’S NOT A SINGER!!!!! #shesabootyshaker.”
- Halle Berry, Mariah Carey and Issa Rae: He commented on their outfits, saying they were “dressing in see thru, ultra tight, breast bearing whore dresses to protest sexual harassment.”
- Cardi B. He claimed that “the stench of indecency Americans are smelling is not coming from Pepe Le Pew,” the cartoon skunk in Warner Brothers cartoons, but instead was coming from “the garbage like filth displayed by Cardi B.”
But wait, there’s more!
Robinson has also condemned women in professional sports.
HuffPost reached out to Robinson ― both his campaign and his state government office ― to ask why the lieutenant governor has spent years publicly attacking and demeaning so many successful women.
Neither office responded.
Robinson’s baggage is clearly worrying some top Republicans in North Carolina, who are reportedly rallying around a new pick ― wealthy businessman and attorney Bill Graham ― to become their party’s gubernatorial front-runner. Graham, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2008, jumped into the race on Wednesday and is pledging to spend millions of dollars of his own money.
He is joining a crowded GOP primary with Robinson and four other conservative candidates, including former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker, and Dale Folwell, the state treasurer. Josh Stein, who is currently the state’s attorney general, is the leading Democratic contender for governor.
Democrats have held this governor’s seat for decades, despite this being a swing state. Current Gov. Roy Cooper is term-limited out in 2024.
HuffPost previously talked to political analysts in North Carolina to get a sense of how Robinson, with his dangerous conspiracy theories and disgusting attacks on women, came to be the GOP’s front-runner for governor. The consensus was that he has two things going for him that other GOP candidates don’t: name recognition and Trump’s endorsement.
“He represents the culture war id of the Republican Party,” said Steven Greene, a political science professor at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
Greene predicted that if Robinson does become the GOP nominee, he will lose the general election in 2024.
“We have seen ever since the elevation of Trump, Republican primary voters, again and again, time and time and time again, choosing the candidate who makes an awful general election candidate in a purple state,” he said.
“My presumption is Mark Robinson will fall right into this pattern.”
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