SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO/AP) — North Carolina’s GOP gubernatorial nominee, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, was set to speak at Dakota First Action’s Victory Gala in Sioux Falls on Tuesday. But that political action committee’s chair, Toby Doeden of Aberdeen, says disaster recovery from Hurricane Helene will likely prevent an in-person appearance.
“He’s probably not going to be there because he needs to be in North Carolina, which is where he’s at, helping the folks that are affected by this hurricane, but he is going to be giving a prerecorded or a live message during the gala,” Doeden said Monday.
CNN reported on Sept. 19 that Robinson made offensive comments between 2008 and 2012 on a message board for a pornography website, with Robinson allegedly calling himself a “black NAZI” in addition to writing “Slavery is not bad.” Robinson has denied the allegations.
“Who am I to judge from afar what somebody did or didn’t say 16 years ago in a chatroom,” Doeden said. “It’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard.”
Doeden says he doesn’t believe CNN’s reporting is accurate.
Dan Santella: What do you say to someone who’s concerned about Mark Robinson speaking tomorrow?
“Tell them to grow up,” Doeden said. “Get the facts …. so somebody in Sioux Falls, South Dakota knows exactly what happened 16 years ago in a chatroom that suddenly popped up after all these years?”
“The people who have organized this, who want to attend this, I would be surprised if they wanted their pictures taken by him or seen at the same event,” Republican Casey Murschel of Sioux Falls said.
Murschel once served in the South Dakota state legislature. She’s still involved in politics today; she’s chair of Republicans for Freedom Amendment G in support of the ballot question which would legalize abortion. She’s also voicing her opposition to Robinson speaking at the Dakota First Action event.
“I think it is appalling,” Murschel said. “He is not the only speaker that could come to South Dakota. This is a person who has been public about his anti-women, anti-gay.”
She also brings up Robinson’s alleged self-identification as a Nazi.
“Inviting him to come to South Dakota, when they certainly had other choices, is not really the message that we want to send,” Murschel said.
In a statement about the plans for Robinson to speak at the event, a Sioux Falls branch of the NAACP said they were “deeply alarmed and outraged.”
