Bishop Patrick Wooden, popular NC pastor, defends Mark Robinson after CNN report
Popular North Carolina Bishop Patrick Wooden Sr. says he stands by Mark Robinson, the state's first black lieutenant governor and the 2024 Republican gubernatorial nominee, after a CNN report alleged that he called himself a "black NAZI" and praised slavery while posting on a pornographic website between 2008 and 2012.
The outspoken Wooden, who leads the conservative Upper Room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh and previously dismissed Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris as a danger to black Americans, told his congregation on Sunday that he spoke with Robinson, who has denied the claims.
"Whether this stuff that they've unearthed is him or not, …. he said those are not the words of Mark Robinson and I believe him. I believe him more than I believe this media," Wooden said to applause from his congregation during his 11 a.m. service on Sunday.
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He said he has known Robinson since 2020, saying Robinson "has been an excellent person" committed to protecting children and biblical values.
"I met him during the lieutenant governor's race. He has been an excellent person and an upstanding leader from the time of my knowing him. As a pastor, that's the most important thing and I deal with people as they are today," Wooden said.
"I can only speak to him from the time that I've known him and all I've known about him is that he's been an upstanding man, a tremendous leader and he's been a fighter. He's fighting for our children, and I'm kind of shocked that some who are coming after him find some of the things that are alleged to have come from him," he added.
Wooden recalled how Robinson fought to keep books with pornographic material out of North Carolina's public schools and said he found the notion of a "black Nazi" incredible.
"I don't know of any black man who would want to be a black Nazi. I don't see no brother said that because if you're any kind of Nazi other than a Nazi Nazi, a white German Nazi, you're a dead Nazi," Wooden said. "Nazi don't want black folk. You go up there if you want to and try that. You're not one of them, amen."
Wooden suggested that because Robinson, who became North Carolina's lieutenant governor in 2021, is not a career politician, people have to accept that someone with his background would have a past.
According to his biography, Robinson, 56, who has two children and two grandchildren, "grew up extremely poor as the ninth of ten children."
Before entering politics, Robinson worked blue-collar jobs, "including a long stint in furniture manufacturing." He shot to prominence in 2018 after delivering an address to the Greensboro City Council defending the Second Amendment, which went viral.
In 2021, after he was elected, Robinson pushed back against images featuring gay sex being included in teaching material in North Carolina schools despite opposition from LGBT advocates.
"He has championed more transparency for parents in their children's education, education options, and ensuring schools are safe. Lieutenant Governor Robinson has been an outspoken supporter of law enforcement, cutting taxes for all hardworking North Carolinians, and making NC the gold standard for veterans' care," his biography notes.
"I think Mark is an awesome leader, and the agenda that he has makes sense. I pray that God will watch over him," Wooden said before making final comments on the politician.
"I will say this: most people don't live their lives thinking that they're going to be into politics. Now, people who set out early to be into politics live like they're going to be politicians; they dot every 'I' cross every 'T,' loop every 'L' because they planned on running for office.
"Regular folk don't live like that. Regular folk get on drugs at times. They do crazy things. They get into all kinds of problems. People get married. People get divorced. Things happen, and then after all that, you may find yourself running. And we're in a day now where they would go back and dig up stuff. So I'm praying for him. I will not join the chorus of people who [are] quick to dump on him," Wooden continued. "If he's guilty of this, then that will be dealt with but God's way."
Wooden said his response to Robinson is no different than how he has dealt with leaders in the church who have "had issues come up."
"I'm standing by this man," Wooden said. "I'm praying for him, and I pray that God gives him strength, and that's all I have to say about that."
Since the CNN report, some of Robinson's allies have cut ties with him, and many senior leaders in his senior campaign staff members have resigned.
The Republican Governors Association told The New York Times that their pro-Robinson ads were expected to expire on Tuesday, and new ones had not yet been placed. Former President and 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who had endorsed him, calling him "Martin Luther King on steroids," did not reference him once during his rally in North Carolina last weekend.
After Wooden's service on Sunday, congregants told The Times that they will continue to support Robinson because of his position on issues like abortion, which he opposes.
"Anybody that's black will not be a Nazi," E.J. Alston said, agreeing with his pastor.
"None of us is perfect," Marlene Molette, a Democrat, told the publication, saying she plans on voting for Robinson because: "I think he will bring change in the world."
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