Mark Robinson sues CNN over report he wrote racist posts on porn website
GuardianOct 13
Mark Robinson Sues CNN Over Porn Forum Claims
Above: Mark Robinson. Image copyright: The Washington Post/Contributor/The Washington Post via Getty Images
The Facts
Republican North Carolina Lieutenant Gov. Mark Robinson filed a defamation lawsuit against CNN in Wake County Superior Court on Tuesday, seeking $50M in damages.
The lawsuit stems from a CNN report alleging Robinson made explicit racial and sexual posts on a pornography website's message board over a decade ago. Robinson denies he made the posts.
The Spin
Right narrative
CNN's politically motivated attack is causing great distress to Robinson and his campaign. The only thing left for Robinson to do is utilize every tool available in the legal system to clear his name and prove CNN was simply trying to stop Robinson from becoming North Carolina's first black governor.
Left narrative
The lawsuit is flimsy at best. Robinson's lawyers have failed to show that Robinson did not make the offensive posts; they've merely offered hypotheticals for how else they could've been posted using his data. Considering the lack of evidence of his innocence, along with Robinson's long history of offensive social media posts, it's unlikely this suit will get very far.