Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson of North Carolina, the Republican nominee for governor of the battleground state with a long history of inflammatory and offensive remarks, on Thursday vowed to stay in the race as CNN reported that he had once called himself a “black NAZI!” and defended slavery on a pornographic forum.

In an 82-second video released before the CNN article had published, Robinson sought to undercut the report, which unearthed old comments that he had reportedly made on “Nude Africa,” a pornographic site with a message board.

Robinson, a social conservative who has been a strident opponent of transgender rights, also posted about how he enjoyed watching transgender pornography, according to CNN, describing himself as a “perv” who liked “tranny on girl porn.”

In his Thursday video, Robinson said: “Let me reassure you. The things that you will see in that story — those are not the words of Mark Robinson.” Later Thursday, the North Carolina Republican Party defended Robinson. In a social media post, the party said: “Mark Robinson has categorically denied the allegations made by CNN but that won’t stop the Left from trying to demonize him via personal attacks.”

CNN said it had chosen to publish only some of Robinson’s messages, many of which were sexually explicit and graphic in nature. He made the comments between 2008 and 2012, according to the report.

To verify that Robinson was the poster behind the comments, CNN identified the username “minisoldr” as one Robinson used frequently online. In addition to matching biographical details, the report said, Robinson had listed his full name on the Nude Africa site along with an email address that he had used on various websites “for decades.”

The New York Times was not able to immediately independently verify the posts.

The fallout from Robinson’s old online comments and his decision to stay in the race could affect the presidential contest as well.

Former President Donald Trump endorsed Robinson at a rally in North Carolina in March, saying he was “Martin Luther King on steroids.” A person with direct knowledge of the discussions, who was not authorized to describe them publicly, said some people had warned Trump in 2023 against supporting him because the bare minimum of opposition research on him had already turned up controversial statements.

Harris and Trump campaigns react

On Thursday, the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris was quick to highlight the ties between them, circulating clips of Trump praising Robinson along with pictures of the two men posing together.

Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokesperson, issued a statement Thursday that did not address Robinson directly. Instead, she said that Trump would win the White House and called North Carolina a “vital part of that plan.”

“We will not take our eye off the ball,” she said.

In his video in advance of the report, Robinson accused without evidence his Democratic rival, Attorney General Josh Stein, of being responsible for it. He vowed he would not exit the contest, which is one of the nation’s most competitive races for governor this year and is unfolding in a key presidential battleground.

“We are staying in this race,” Robinson said. “We are in it to win it.”

Stein’s campaign said in a statement that “North Carolinians already know Mark Robinson is completely unfit to be governor. Josh remains focused on winning this campaign so that together we can build a safer, stronger North Carolina for everyone.”

National Republicans have already spent more than $12 million on television ads supporting Robinson in his race this year, according to data from AdImpact, the ad-tracking firm, with the Republican Governors Association providing much of the funding.

A spokesperson for the RGA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

North Carolina is a state that both Trump and Harris are contesting as part of their path to 270 electoral votes. The state was the closest one in the nation that Trump won four years ago, and Harris’ team in particular has believed it can make inroads, partly because Robinson had already attracted so much negative attention.

Trump is scheduled to visit North Carolina on Saturday.

Since the beginning of his campaign, Robinson has faced scrutiny for a string of inflammatory statements and social media posts, including one that quoted a statement attributed to Adolf Hitler. He has also called the survivors of the Parkland school shooting who have been vocal in supporting gun control measures “spoiled, angry, know-it-all children.”

Risky candidate, but blessed by his party

Robinson had long been seen as a risky standard-bearer for governor in Republican political circles, but he still easily won his party’s nomination. Trump’s ties to the state were deepened earlier this year when the former president tapped Michael Whatley, then the chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, to serve as the chair of the Republican National Committee.

Whatley and Robinson spoke briefly by phone Thursday before the story broke. The chair was not yet aware of the specifics in the piece and did not ask Robinson to step aside, said one person with knowledge of the conversation, who was not authorized to discuss the private call publicly. Robinson told Whatley the coming report was false, the person said.

People close to Trump had been prepared for a story on Robinson coming this week, according to a person with direct knowledge of the conversations, amid long-term concerns among establishment Republicans in the state that more damaging information would emerge.

Trump had declined to have Robinson attend at least one recent event the former president held in the state. His campaign was also preparing to distance itself further from Robinson but did not plan to call on him to drop out, the person with direct knowledge said.

Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, held a campaign rally Wednesday in Raleigh, N.C., accompanied by a number of House candidates; Tim Moore, the state House speaker; and Hal Weatherman, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor. Robinson himself was absent, and Vance made no mention of him during the rally.

In his video Thursday, Robinson invoked comments made by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who is also Black, during his contentious confirmation fight three decades ago.

“Clarence Thomas famously once said he was the victim of a high-tech lynching,” Robinson said. “Well, it looks like Mark Robinson is, too.”

According to the CNN report, Robinson was responsible for dozens of disturbing comments on the Nude Africa site, including a message where he recounted how, as a 14-year-old, he went “peeping” on women in public gym showers. He described fantasizing about the memory as an adult.

Robinson also wrote approvingly of a return of the days of slavery.

“Slavery is not bad,” he wrote. “Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it (slavery) back. I would certainly buy a few.”

Even if Robinson did decide to leave the race, it’s not certain that he could avoid being on the ballot this close to November.