UPDATED: "Black Nazi" North Carolina Candidate Apparently Cancels Appearance With Lake County GOP Group
North Carolina Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, the GOP nominee for governor, has apparently canceled an appearance in Lake County after online postings he made referred to himself as a “Black Nazi.”
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In the wake of reports that North Carolina Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, the GOP nominee for Governor in November, referred to himself as a “Black Nazi” in an online forum, sources tell The Illinoize he is still scheduled to headline a fundraiser for a Lake County GOP group later this month, at least for now.
UPDATE SUNDAY: A new post on the Tenth District Republican Organization claims Robinson “cancelled,” but the September 29 event is still on, the website reads.
According to a flyer for the event, Robinson is scheduled to headline the September 29th fundraiser in suburban Kenilworth for the Tenth Congressional District Republican Organization, controlled by former Lake County GOP Chair and 10th District GOP Committeeman Mark Shaw. Shaw, who was removed as GOP State Central Committee Vice Chair in June, is an ally and “senior advisor” to the Trump campaign.
The flyer for the event claims the 10th Congressional District Republican Organization has been “tasked by the Trump campaign to help get the vote out in Wisconsin and with its mission to turn Illinois red.”
Robinson has a long history of controversial statements about women, Jews, gay people, and others has already been trailing in his race for North Carolina Governor to Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein before Thursday’s controversial comments.
The September 29th event in Kenilworth is hosted by Shaw, Julie Cho, the New Trier Township GOP Committeewoman, and GOP donors Chad and Marilyn Prodromos. Tickets range from $50 per person to $2,999.
Local Republican leaders are distancing themselves from the event.
Lake County GOP Chairman Keith Brin tells The Illinoize the Shaw organization is not associated with the Lake County Republican Party, Lake County GOP Central Committee or GOP organizations in Cook and McHenry counties or the Wheeling or Northfield Township GOP organizations.
“This event is all about Mark Shaw, the leader of that group, who was recently removed as State Party Vice Chair after being accused of fraudulently voting on Party matters,” Brin said in a statement. “Mr. Shaw is off on his own, and anyone who follows him is once taking the party off a cliff the same way that Mr. Shaw did with the Lake County Republican Party over a period of years. It's the reason he was rejected as its leader then, and is showing that the party needs to once again rebuke him for his poor decisions. Mr. Shaw and his organization represent no one but themselves.”
Brin specifically noted Shaw’s group does is not involved with 10th Congressional District Republican candidate Jim Carris, who is challenging Congressman Brad Schneider (D-Highland Park) in November.
Shaw did not respond to a message from The Illinoize Thursday night.
One GOP consultant, on the condition on anonymity, told The Illinoize that when party organizations associate themselves with controversial Republicans, it will only turn away voters.
“Any chance Jim Carris had of beating Brad Schneider goes out the window,” the source said. “Any chance Mary Cole had of beating Eric Rinehart [the Lake County State’s Attorney] is probably gone. These are self-inflicted wounds the party continues to make and we wonder why we keep losing in the suburbs.”
Schneider posted about Robinson on Twitter Thursday.
“The local Republican party in the 10th District is now inviting Mark Robinson to Lake County later this month to headline their fundraiser. You heard that right,” Schneider said. “Here are a few things you should know about Mark Robinson. [He] denied the Holocaust, [he] supported a total abortion ban-no exceptions, [he] referred to LGBTQ people as "filth," [and he mocked] women's right to birth control and saying they need to "get [it] under control."
The Democratic Party of Illinois also tweeted a condemnation of Robinson’s planned appearance.
“The Tenth Congressional District Republicans are proudly bringing Trump’s extremist ally Mark Robinson to headline a fundraising event later this month,” the post wrote. “A man who denies the Holocaust and calls LGBTQ+ people "filth" has no place in our communities, and yet, they're rolling out the red carpet. Guess that tells us all we need to know about the IL GOP.”