NC Gov. Mark Robinson was treated for burns after hitting the exhaust pipe

MOUNT AIRY, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina's Republican lieutenant governor. Mark Robinson said Saturday that he was being treated for burns he suffered when he accidentally touched an exhaust pipe at a truck show while running for governor.

Robinson was making an appearance at the Mayberry Truck Show in Mount Airy on Friday night when he was injured, campaign spokesman Mike Lonergan said in a statement.

Robinson was treated for second-degree burns at Northern Regional Hospital in Mount Airy, Lonergan added.

Lonergan later pointed to a video posted on

Robinson said he rode in a “big rig” at a show parade. He said trailers came toward him as he exited the truck, and while trying to avoid encountering them, he placed his hand on the truck's extremely hot exhaust.

“It burned my hand, but I’m fine,” Robinson said.

Robinson, lieutenant governor since 2021, is running against Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein, the current attorney general. Incumbent Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, was prevented from running for re-election in the fall because of term limits.

Many Republicans have recently distanced themselves from Robinson after September 19th CNN report He claimed he posted strongly worded racist and sexual comments on an online forum. A dozen employees on the campaign trail or in his lieutenant governor's office have stopped in the wake of the report's fallout.

Robinson, who has previously come under fire for inflammatory statements, has denied authoring the messages, which CNN claims were written more than a decade ago, and has hired a law firm to investigate.

Mount Airy, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of Charlotte near the Virginia border, is where the late television star Andy Griffith grew up. The community served as the inspiration for the fictional town of Mayberry on “The Andy Griffith Show,” which aired in the 1960s. City leaders have embraced this history with homages and celebrations related to the show.