MOUNT AIRY, NC. Sept 29, (AP): North Carolina Republican Lt Gov Mark Robinson said Saturday that he was treated for burns he suffered when he accidentally touched an exhaust pipe at a truck show while campaigning for governor. Robinson was making an appearance Friday evening at the Mayberry Truck Show in Mount Airy when he was injured, campaign spokesperson Mike Lonergan said in a statement.

Robinson was treated at Northern Regional Hospital in Mount Airy for second-degree burns, Lonergan added. Lonergan later referred to a video posted on X in which Robinson, with a bandaged left hand, told supporters during a campaign event what happened. Robinson said he had been riding in a "big rig” in a show parade.

Supporters approached him as he was getting out of the truck, he said, and while trying to avoid running into them, he put his hand on the truck's extremely hot exhaust pipe. "It burned my hand, but I am fine,” Robinson said. Robinson, the lieutenant governor since 2021, is running against Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Stein, the current attorney general. Current Gov Roy Cooper, a Democrat, was barred by term limits from seeking reelection this fall.

Many Republicans have distanced themselves recently from Robinson following a Sept 19 CNN report alleging he posted strongly worded racial and sexual comments on an online message board. A dozen staff members on his campaign or his Lieutenant Governor's Office have quit in the report's fallout. Robinson, who has faced criticism previously for inflammatory comments, has denied writing the messages CNN says were written over a decade ago and has hired a law firm to investigate.