North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the leading candidate for the Republican nomination for governor, said in 2019 that the prevalence of mass shootings in the United States is “karma” for allowing abortions. He added: “When you spill that innocent blood, that blood is going to come back as a stain on you and it's going to come home to roost.” 

Prior to entering politics, Robinson was a right-wing commentator who appeared on Fox News and other conservative media outlets. He has a history of using toxic rhetoric, including about LGBTQ and Jewish people. Media Matters previously reported that he claimed Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby were victims of a left-wing “plot” and urged people “to stand up against it.” 

He also has made vitriolic remarks about abortion and school shootings. Those two topics came together in an August 19, 2019, interview on the streaming program Anomic Age with host John Age.  

Robinson’s appearance came after the August 3 anti-Hispanic mass shooting in El Paso, Texas. Prior to Robinson’s interview, Age claimed that the shooting “seems fishy,” adding, “I would typically just call these operations. I'm not sure. The thing in Texas stinks quite a bit.”

During that interview, Robinson said it was “karma” for the country to experience so many mass shootings because it has allowed abortion. He said: 

He then attacked gun safety advocates and progressive activists, stating: “They have nobody to blame but themselves and the policies that they've been pushing that devalue human life across the country.” 

The host later told Robinson, “We're reaping what we've been sowing right now. It's just sick.” Robinson replied: “Absolutely. Absolutely. It's very sad.” 

Other Republican politicians and media figures have also blamed abortion for mass shootings, including Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Rep. Billy Long of Missouri, the late Rush Limbaugh, and Mark Levin. 

Robinson also entertained the conspiracy theory that the El Paso mass shooting was staged. On the day of the shooting, he appeared on a radio program where he was asked if he thought “today's shooting was planned.” He responded: “I have no idea whether or not it was planned, but you know, whether it was planned or not, it is, again, a symptom of a terrible issue. A terrible disease is going on in this country right now. And we have got to figure out a way to stop it.” Earlier in the broadcast, Robinson said he didn’t have “all the details” of the shooting that had just happened.