Here is David Graham at The Atlantic:
A decade ago, Mark Robinson had a dead-end job and a nasty habit of posting anti-Semitic, homophobic, and sexist screeds on Facebook. Today he is North Carolina’s lieutenant governor. This November, he could become the state’s first Black governor.
“There is a REASON the liberal media fills the airwaves with programs about the NAZI and the ‘6 million Jews’ they murdered,” Robinson wrote on Facebook in 2017. “There is also a REASON those same liberals DO NOT FILL the airwaves with programs about the Communist and the 100+ million PEOPLE they murdered throughout the 20th century.” He also blasted the movie Black Panther as “created by an agnostic Jew and put to film by satanic marxist [sic],” adding, “How can this trash, that was only created to pull the shekels out of your Schvartze pockets, invoke any pride?” He had a recurring bit about Michelle Obama being a man. He said Beyoncé’s music sounds like “satanic chants.” He’s no less inflammatory offline, where he has called homosexuality “filth” and endorsed corporal punishment for children.
These views are awful but hardly unusual. What is unusual is that the man professing them won North Carolina’s Republican primary for governor in March. He will face Josh Stein, a Democrat and the current state attorney general, in November. Robinson’s fringe positions have led some to assume that he can’t win, but polls indicate that the race is very close. Robinson could reshape the politics of North Carolina, which has tried in recent years to attract newcomers from around the country. He also provides a test of how extreme a MAGA Republican can be and still win office outside deep-red states—of what, if anything, is too extreme in contemporary politics.
Robinson declined multiple requests for an interview, but I read his memoir, Facebook posts, and statements, and spoke with North Carolina political insiders, to understand how he went from anonymity to the top of the party’s ticket in less than a decade. His rise is reminiscent of Donald Trump’s: Republican leaders thought they could use him for their ends, but he had his own vision. Should he lose, the GOP will miss out on a seat that a generic Republican could have won. Should he win, Republicans will have the challenge of dealing with Governor Robinson.
Read the rest here.
What this story does not cover in any depth is Robinson’s Christian nationalism. More here. And here:
Here are some things Robinson has said in churches:
On guns:
Jesus told folks they should own a sword. ‘Go get you a sword. You need you a sword.’ … In our [U.S.] founding documents, it says rights come from God. Now, I want you to think about this: To every animal, God has given the ability to defend itself. [Robinson gives the example of the garden slug, which has an enzyme that makes it unappetizing.]
“Now, if God gave the garden slug a way to defend itself, what makes you think he didn’t give man—who he created in his own image—a way to defend himself? Those AR-15s and Glock 9-millimeters and .45 calibers—where do you think they came from? Who do you think inspired them? God knew the world he was putting us into. So he formed in our minds the ability for us…to defend ourselves.” — Robinson at Asbury Baptist Church, Seagrove, June 6, 2021
On women:
“We’re called to be the Christians that God has called us to be. And we are called … to be led by men. God sent women out … to do their thing. But when it was time to face down Goliath, He sent DAVID, not Davita. DAVID! When it was time to lead the Israelites out of [Egypt], He sent MOSES! Not Mama Moses, Daddy Moses. See, God knew what He was doing when He made men big and hairy and ugly. Because you’re supposed to scare away predators, whether they’re in the woods or standing in front of your kids in elementary school.” — Robinson at Freedom House Church in Charlotte, May 22, 2022
On America as a “Christian nation”:
“There’s a lot of people that like to say that this isn’t a Christian nation. But, hey, take a look around you. Every good thing that’s ever come up in this nation, every problem that we’ve ever needed solved—it’s all been solved by people who believed in Jesus Christ. “That’s where the real solutions are in this nation. They always have been. And there’s always going to be a regimen of people in this nation who call themselves Christians and believe in the tenets of Christianity. And so this is a Christian nation.” — Robinson at Cross Assembly, Wake County, Oct. 10, 2021