A poor person's Donald Trump

While Trump is paying off porn stars, Mark Robinson is paying to watch porn stars.

Man, Mark Robinson is just the gift that keeps on giving. The guy just keeps outdoing himself. Just when you think he’s reached his peak, Mark Robinson goes and reaches new heights—or lows, depending on your perspective.

This time, we learn Robinson used to frequent those adult video stores where patrons rented porn and sat in little booths to watch them in privacy. According a story in The Assembly, six men, including employees of the establishments, say Robinson was a regular, showing up with pizzas after his shift at Papa John’s as often as five days a week. And here’s the kicker. According to the manager at I-40 Video in Greensboro, Robinson skipped out with the last video he rented, stilling owing the manager $25.

Robinson denies the story, of course, but it’s clear that the people are telling the truth. They have no reason to lie. They liked Robinson and give interesting anecdotes about his personality. He was funny and part of a group of late night misfits, hanging around a sketchy store on the edge of society. They almost feel like characters from the movie Clerks or maybe something from Jim Jarmusch.

Mark Robinson really is a poor person’s Donald Trump. While Trump is paying off porn stars, Mark Robinson is paying to watch porn stars. Both have multiple bankruptcies. Donald Trump lost his casinos. Mark Robinson lost his house. Donald Trump built his profile of outrageousness through shock jocks and tabloids. Robinson built his through social media, both looking for a applause and clicks. Both appeal to evangelicals as defenders against those who belittle them. Both lie as easily as they breathe.

Robinson is really a parable for the 21st century . He was just a regular guy with some bad habits and a questionable work ethic. He held some bigoted beliefs that were fairly common, but never caused much problem as long as kept them to himself.

Then, about 15 years ago, social media emerged as a way to broadcast yourself. Robinson took to Facebook, spouting antisemitic conspiracy theories and going off on homophobic diatribes. He got likes from the ugliest segments of society and took it as broad approval, feeding a nascent narcissism.

When he had a chance to speak before the Greensboro City Council, he took it. A rant about gun control went viral and gave him an even broader audience. Suddenly, he was a star among right-wing activists who loved his homophobia, his conspiracy theories, and his insulting condemnations of those he considered his enemies.

The Republican Party embraced Robinson. He might not have had any experience doing much of anything, but he sure could fire up the homophobic base. Not only that, he was Black, offering a salve to accusations of racism. They enthusiastically nominated him for lieutenant governor, a largely ceremonial post that got little scrutiny during the 2020 elections.

He spent his tenure touring evangelical churches, continuing his rants against the LGBT+ community, condemning Democrats as socialists and communists, and generally riling up the ignorant GOP base. He leveraged his popularity with the angry Republican voters into frontrunner status for governor. He managed to secure the endorsement of top Republican leaders and then defeated the sitting state treasurer in the primary, a man who served in the legislature and built a successful business.

Now, as a candidate, everything that made Robinson is destroying him. His six years of fame have quickly morphed into a lifetime of infamy. All of his bad habits are exposed. His rantings that are popular with a narrow segment of society are repulsive to a majority of the people who live here. The more people get to know him, the less they like him. Live by the internet, die by the internet.

After all of this is over, Robinson should go back that life he had. The video stores are mostly shut down, but he can probably find somewhere to tell his off-color jokes to an attentive audience of four or five down-on-their-luck men. And if that doesn’t work out, he should just move to Florida. I’m sure Madison Cawthorn needs a sidekick.