Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson “is currently being treated for burns,” his communications director confirmed to NBC News on Friday night.
“Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is currently being treated for burns following an incident at a campaign event in Mt. Airy. He is in good spirits,” said Mike Lonergan, the Robinson campaign’s communications director.
Lonergan was responding to an NBC News question about a NewsNation report saying that the North Carolina candidate was hospitalized.
On Saturday, Lonergan sent NBC News a video posted to X showing Robinson telling supporters that he laid his hand on a tailpipe when getting out of a vehicle at a truck show on Friday. He said he sustained a “minor second degree burn,” emphasizing that he was “fine.”
Robinson was previously set to speak during a North Carolina Faith & Freedom event on Saturday, but an organizer for the event said Friday night that the event had to be canceled, noting that the venue did not have power. Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc in parts of North Carolina, especially the western region of the state, where the event was going to be held.
Robinson posted pictures of himself on social media campaigning at other events on Saturday.
Friday’s incident came just days after a bombshell CNN report that alleged that the lieutenant governor made antisemitic and racist comments on a porn website years ago.
In the days after the story broke, four top staff members of the embattled Republican’s campaign stepped down, though the campaign did not link the departures to the report.
Robinson has remained defiant in the face of the allegations, despite some Republicans expressing concern over the report. Robinson has denied the allegations.
The Harris campaign has sought to tie Robinson to former President Donald Trump, who endorsed him prior to the release of the CNN report, in hopes that the controversy surrounding Robinson’s candidacy helps Democrats flip the state blue. Trump won North Carolina by a narrow margin in 2020, and Republicans have acknowledged that it would be difficult for them to win the White House without the state.
