GOP Leaders Hedge When Asked About Mark Robinson's Alarming Porn Comment Scandal

While JD Vance sounded somewhat willing to believe Robinson's denial, Sen. Lindsey Graham called the reports "beyond unnerving."

Several leading Republicans refused to outright denounce North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) as a scandal over his alleged comments on a porn website roiled the GOP over the weekend.

While speaking to NBC Philadelphia on Saturday, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) stopped short of rebuking the gubernatorial candidate who, in a recent report from CNN, was accused of calling himself a “Black Nazi,” saying he supported slavery and making an array of shocking sexual comments on an adult website years ago.

Robinson firmly denied the allegations while vowing to stay in the race in a video statement posted Thursday night, calling himself the victim of a “high-tech lynching.”

Vance was less than unequivocal in his comments about the controversy, telling the NBC affiliate, “The allegations are pretty far out there, of course, but I know that allegations aren’t necessarily reality.”

“I don’t not believe him, I don’t believe him,” the Republican vice presidential candidate continued to hedge. “I just think that you have to let these things sometimes play out in the court of public opinion.”