GOP Candidate Mark Robinson: “Some Folks Need Killing!”
Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson gave a speech appearing to endorse violence against political and ideological enemies.
“Some folks need killing!” blared North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson during a 30-minute speech over the weekend.
“It’s time for somebody to say it! It’s not a matter of vengeance! It’s not a matter of being mean or spiteful! It’s a matter of necessity!”
Robinson, who is running for Governor of North Carolina, was preaching at Lake Church, in the southeastern part of the state. He rapidly delved into a hateful rant against liberals and perceived political enemies.
Among those Robinson attacked were “people who have evil intent,” “wicked people,” individuals committing crimes like “torturing and murdering and raping” people, “socialists,” and “Communists.” He invoked people whom he accused of undermining the Unites States’ founding ideals and leftists, whom he accused of persecuting conservatives.
“We now find ourselves struggling with people who have evil intent,” Robinson said. “You know, there’s a time when we used to meet evil on the battlefield. And guess what we did to it? We killed it!
“Kill them!” he continued. “Some liberal somewhere is going to say that sounds awful. Too bad. Get mad at me if you want to. Some folks need killing!”
Approached about the sermon, the Rev. Cameron McGill, pastor of Lake Church, said he expected Robinson’s remarks about “killing” to be “scrutinized,” but defended the lieutenant governor.
“Without a doubt, those he deemed worthy of death [were] those seeking to kill us,” McGill told The New Republic in an email.
He added that Robinson “certainly did not imply the taking of any innocent lives” and claimed that the rest of the speech was “non-controversial.” The video of the church service, including Robinson’s full remarks, remains online on the church’s Facebook page as of press time.
Robinson’s remarks echo those made by Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, the organization behind the “Project 2025” initiative that seeks to remake the U.S. government into a conservative utopia.
Roberts recently came under fire for comments implying that the 2024 election might devolve into violence, claiming that those who support conservative ideology are “in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the Left allows it to be.”
Robinson, a self-described “MAGA Republican,” has a long history of inflammatory and incendiary comments, criticizing feminists and women, engaging in Islamophobic and anti-Semitic rhetoric, and bashing his perceived political enemies, including Democrats, people with socially liberal views, and LGBTQ people.
He often declares that support for LGBTQ rights is incompatible with being Christian, criticizing LGBTQ-affirming churches, rejecting the idea of gender identity, and opposing recognition of LGBTQ rights.
He has made comments comparing drag queens to child molesters, claiming that identifying as gay is a precursor to pedophilia, and suggesting transgender people who do not wish to use restrooms that align with their assigned sex at birth “find a corner outside somewhere to go.”
In response to the Pulse nightclub massacre, Robinson wrote on Facebook that while he would “pray for the souls of all those killed,” he would not celebrate “gay Pride” or LGBTQ identity, declaring homosexuality to be an “abominable sin.”
While many people find Robinson’s comments offensive, his latest rant about “killing” may unfortunately find a sizable audience willing to hear the message.
An October 2023 poll by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution found that 33% of self-identified Republicans agreed with the sentiment that “because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.”
By comparison, only 22% of independents and 13% of Democrats agreed with that statement.
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