North Carolina’s anti-LGBTQ+ Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) – who is currently running for governor – endorsed political violence during a recent talk at a small-town church, saying, “Some people need killing!” His list of those needing killing seemingly included “people with evil intent,” “wicked people,” socialists, Communists, and leftists who persecute conservatives online.
“We now find ourselves struggling with people who have evil intent. 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!” Robinson said during his 30-minute June 30 speech at Lake Church in White Lake, North Carolina.
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He also likened being trans to “insanity.”
“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! It’s time for somebody to say it…. It’s not a matter of being mean or spiteful. It’s a matter of necessity! When you have wicked people doing wicked things, torturing and murdering and raping.”
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“We need to start handling our business again,” he added. “Don’t you feel it slipping away?… The further we start sliding into making 1776 a distant memory and the tenets of socialism and communism start coming into clearer focus. They’re watching us. They’re listening to us. They’re tracking us. They get mad at you. They cancel you. They dox you. They kick you off social media. They come in and close down your business. Folks, it’s happening … because we have forgotten who we are.”
Although Robinson described his enemies in broad terms, Reverend Cameron McGill, the Pastor of Lake Church, defended Robinson’s comments, telling The New Republic, “Without a doubt, those he deemed worthy of death [were] those seeking to kill us… [Robinson] certainly did not imply the taking of any innocent lives.”
Robinson’s comments echo growing right-wing rhetoric encouraging violence against those who oppose Republicans and conservatism.
Last week, Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation — the conservative think tank behind Project 2025, the anti-Democratic blueprint for America’s future — said the United States is “in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the Left allows it to be.”
During a March campaign rally, Trump warned of a “bloodbath” if President Joe Biden beats him in November’s presidential election.
An October 2023 poll from the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution found that 33% of Republicans agreed that “because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.” Comparatively, 22% of independents and 13% of Democrats agreed with the statement.
Robinson is infamous for his many anti-LGBTQ+ comments
Among Robinson’s many anti-LGBTQ+ statements, he has called homosexuality “an abominable sin,” referred to lesbian celebrity Ellen DeGeneres as a “top ranking demon… proudly serving in Satan’s army,” and has called former First Lady Michelle Obama “a man,” repeating a transphobic misogynoir conspiracy theory. He has also called the trans equality movement “demonic” and “full of the spirit of Antichrist.”
In March 2023, Robinson declared that God created him to battle against LGBTQ+ rights and added, “Makes me sick every time I see it — a church that flies that Rainbow flag, which is a direct spit in the face of God almighty.” In 2021, Robinson compared LGBTQ+ people to cow dung.
In 2021, Robinson created an education task force to investigate and pull LGBTQ+ literature from public schools, as well as report instances of LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools. In an October 24, 2019 Facebook post against gender-affirming care for minors, Robinson wrote that trans children are being “mentally raped” by their parents and other supportive adults. In 2017, he wrote on Facebook, “You CAN NOT love God and support the homosexual agenda.”
Robinson has said that trans people should defecate on public street corners outside rather than using bathrooms matching their gender identity. He also wrote on social media, later adding, “Note to liberals; I’ll accept ‘Gay Pride’ when you accept ‘White Pride.’”