The Republican nominee for governor in North Carolina is pledging to stay in the closely watched race after CNN reported lewd comments he made on a pornography site more than a decade ago, including referring to himself as a Nazi, talking about looking into women’s locker rooms in college, and liking transgender porn. 

In a video posted to his X account on Thursday afternoon, Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson said the story from CNN is fabricated, and that he would not leave the race despite pressure from fellow Republicans. 

“Guys, the news media is at it again. My opponent is at it again,” he said, referring to North Carolina’s attorney general, Josh Stein, the Democratic nominee.

According to the report from CNN’s KFILE, Mr. Robinson used a porn discussion site, “Nude Africa,” to talk about his sexual proclivities and his politics before he entered public life. 

Of his sexual interests, Mr. Robinson said he enjoyed watching pornography that featured transgender people. Since he allegedly made those comments online, he has garnered attention for his anti-transgender statements while a public official. 

“I like watching tranny on girl porn! That’s f—ing hot! It takes the man out while leaving the man in!” Mr. Robinson allegedly wrote. “And yeah I’m a ‘perv’ too!”

He also claimed he had enjoyed watching women shower at a public gym when he was a teenager. “I came to a spot that was a dead end but had two big vent covers over it! It just so happened it overlooked the showers! I sat there for about an hour and watched as several girls came in and showered,” he wrote, adding that he liked the “peeping.”

On those message boards, he also referred to himself in 2010 as a “black NAZI” and talked about his desire to re-establish slavery. 

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

Mr. Robinson now says the comments are fake. 

“Let me reassure you — the things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson. You know my words, you know my character, and you know that I’ve been completely transparent in this race,” he says. 

Mr. Robinson, who is Black, also allegedly made comments about the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., who he called a “commie bastard,” “worse than a maggot,” a “ho f—ing, phony,” and a “huckster.” 

“I’m not in the KKK. They don’t let blacks join. If I was in the KKK I would have called him Martin Lucifer Koon!” Mr. Robinson allegedly added. 

The lieutenant governor was linked to the profile by the username, which matches the username he has used on other social media channels, as well as personal details, including his hometown, his height and weight, and his occupation, which were all listed on the Nude Africa profile. 

Another outlet, the Carolina Journal, reported that Mr. Robinson is facing pressure from North Carolina Republicans to drop out of the race. President Trump’s advisors, too, are saying he should bow out. Mr. Robinson has been reportedly barred from appearing at rallies alongside Trump or Senator Vance. 

Trump endorsed Mr. Robinson ahead of the Republican gubernatorial primary earlier this year, when the lieutenant governor faced off against the state treasurer, Dale Folwell. Trump, at the time, referred to Mr. Robinson as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”

An advisor to Trump did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. A spokesman for Mr. Robinson did not immediately respond to a message. 

He has been trailing Mr. Stein in general election polling for months. Just in September, Mr. Stein led Mr. Robinson by eight points in an Emerson College poll, and by 12 points in a Quinnipiac poll. The Cook Political Report rates the race as being slightly in Mr. Stein’s favor.