If you’re familiar with Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor in North Carolina, it’s probably for his hard-line stance on abortion and his outlandish claims on everything from Black Panther (made by “an agnostic Jew and put to film by satanic Marxists”) to the Holocaust (“hogwash”). But get ready for a new and slightly more fun reason: In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Evangelical Christian used to go to the pornography store a lot. Like, a lot.
That’s according to a former employee at 24-hour porn-video shops in Greensboro, who spoke with the North Carolina investigative website The Assembly. He says Robinson was coming in to watch videos in a private booth as many as five nights a week. The man, Louis Money, said that at one of the stores he worked at, Gents, patrons could buy videos for $50 each or “preview” them in private booths for $8. “Every night that I worked, which would have been five nights a week, I saw Mark,” Money said. “He was spending a good amount of money.” Robinson previewed at least two tapes a night, per Money. Five other customers and employees confirmed Robinson’s frequent presence; one said Robinson would even bring in pizza for the fellas.
A campaign spokesperson described The Assembly’s report as “bullshit.”
In his memoir, Robinson wrote that he was “guilty of bad money management” and that “when I had money and should have been putting it in the bank or spending it on essential things … I was just throwing money away.” Between 1998 and 2003, Robinson’s family filed for bankruptcy three times.
While everyone interviewed by The Assembly said they liked Robinson, his porn era was dragged back to the surface after Money made a rap-rock music video in August called “The Lt. Governor Owes Me Money.” According to Money, Robinson purchased “hundreds” of bootleg porn compilations that Money made — though he forgot to pay him the $25 for the last one.
Republicans have long been obsessed with pornography as part of their moral crusade in America. At least Robinson, according to his former friend, put his money where his mouth is. In this decade, this exposé will instead likely help the candidate with the Barstool bro-vote.
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