Mark Robinson Hospitalized Following ‘Incident at a Campaign Event’

AP Photo/Chris Carlson

North Carolina Lt. Governor Mark Robinson was hospitalized late Friday night following an “incident at a campaign event,” WSOC in Charlotte reported.

The 56-year-old Republican gubernatorial nominee was at the Mayberry Truck Show and Parade in Mt Airy in the northwestern part of the state when the incident occurred. A campaign staffer for Robinson said he is being treated for burns.

“He is in good spirits,” the staffer tweeted. Robinson’s hand was reportedly burned when he leaned against a truck.

The lieutenant governor has been a divisive figure and was endorsed by former President Donald Trump in the GOP primary. Robinson’s well-documented extreme rhetoric proved no obstacle to winning the Republican primary. But last week, CNN published an explosive report about remarks he made on a porn site called Nude Africa. Across several posts, Robinson described himself as a “black NAZI,” said, “Slavery is not bad,” and wrote in 2012 that he’d “take Hitler over any of the sh*t that’s in Washington right now!”

Robinson, who denies he is behind the now-deleted posts, has consistently trailed North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein in the polls.

Once an ardent backer of Robinson’s, Trump said on Thursday he is not familiar with the lieutenant governor’s troubles.

“Are you gonna pull your endorsement of Mark Robinson?” a reporter asked the former president.

“Uh, I don’t know the situation,” he replied before walking away.

Earlier this week, it was reported that the Republican Governors Association is done spending money on Robinson’s behalf.