Mark Robinson, who has weathered numerous scandals over his controversial remarks, has garnered praise from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Mr. Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina, vowed to stay in the race and sought to deny the report, which also said he had defended slavery in online posts years ago.

North Carolina's Republican candidate for governor promised to stay in the race on Thursday after CNN reported that he once called himself a "black NAZI!" and proposed bringing back slavery in comments posted on a pornography website.