ICYMI: Robinson Says “MLK Was An Inferior Pastor,” Calls The Civil Rights Movement “Crap,” HuffPo Reports

Greensboro pastor: Robinson is running “into the arms of the most discriminatory and hateful right-wing politics our country has to offer.” 

The Lieutenant Governor’s pattern of hate and extremism was on full display yesterday as the Huffington Post reported that Mark Robinson “regularly criticized King and the civil rights movement for years on Facebook.” 

According to newly unearthed Facebook posts, Robinson called Dr. King an “ersatz pastor” and a “communist” and consistently used MLK Day over the years to denigrate his legacy. He even criticized the holiday itself, saying he would go to work on MLK Day in 2017 because he was “not a leach.” 

Robinson has made no secret of his feelings towards the Civil Rights Movement over the years. Previous reporting from CNN revealed that he called it the “so-called Civil Rights movement” and a “Communist Rise Movement,” claiming that “so many freedoms were lost.” A Greensboro native, Robinson called the 1960 sit-in movement a “ridiculous premise.” Now, the Huffington Post finds that in addition to calling the Civil Rights Movement “crap,” Robinson “downplayed slavery, rejected the idea that he’s part of the African American community, and attacked the late congressman and civil rights icon, John Lewis.” 

His past comments also made waves in his hometown newspaper. Reverend CJ Brinson, a Greensboro pastor, wrote a blistering op-ed condemning Robinson’s fringe brand of “discriminatory and hateful right-wing politics” and underscoring how Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr. “couldn’t be further apart.” 

The more North Carolinians learn about Robinson, the more they see he is out of step with their values. As Rev. Brinson writes: “Greensboro is a city that fights for justice, and Mark Robinson just fights for himself … he does not speak for us!”