NC Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson was treated for second-degree burns after touching exhaust pipe at campaign event

By Dianne Gallagher, CNN

(CNN) — North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson was treated for second-degree burns Friday after he burned his hand on a “big rig” he was riding in at the Mayberry Truck Show and Parade in Mount Airy, he told supporters at a Saturday campaign event.

“I was getting out of the truck and several of my fans and supporters were coming around the truck. I was trying to get out without running into them and doggone if I didn’t lay my hand on that tailpipe, the exhaust pipe,” Robinson said, showing his bandaged hand. “I am fine. It is just a minor second-degree burn, and it is just fine.”

Mike Lonergan, Robinson’s gubernatorial campaign communications director, said Friday night Robinson was treated for the burns at Northern Regional Hospital “following an incident at a campaign event.”

Lonergan added in the statement that Robinson “is in good spirits, appreciates the outpouring of well wishes, and is excited to return to the campaign trail as scheduled first thing tomorrow morning.”

Robinson, North Carolina’s Republican nominee for governor, had made several campaign stops around the state on Friday, according to a previously provided schedule and social media posts. His final stop was the Mayberry Truck Show and Parade in Mount Airy, where the incident occurred.

NewsNation was first to report his hospitalization, which a source close to his campaign confirmed to CNN earlier Friday night.

Robinson’s hospitalization comes amid continued fallout from CNN’s reporting on the lieutenant governor’s past inflammatory comments on a pornography website’s message board.

Many prominent Republicans sought to distance themselves from Robinson in the aftermath, including former President Donald Trump, who did not mention Robinson during a recent campaign stop in North Carolina despite having previously endorsed him.

National Republican groups have also pulled financial support for Robinson as several of his campaign officials have stepped down and his top staffer is set to resign.

As the embattled candidate continues to campaign, a new CNN poll shows that the race is slipping away from Robinson. The poll, released Friday and conducted by SSRS after CNN KFile’s reporting was published, showed Democrat Josh Stein leading Robinson 53% to 36% among likely voters.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN’s Josh Campbell and Kaanita Iyer contributed to this report.

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