Fox News pundit Jason Chaffetz, a former Republican congressman, complained about the timing of a scandal involving Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor in North Carolina.
On Sunday, the Fox News Media Buzz program hosted a panel discussion about Robinson's comments on a pornographic website, which included calling himself a "Black Nazi" and defending slavery.
Host Howard Kurtz noted that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump had declined to withdraw his endorsement of Robinson.
"Trump is, I think, being very kind to Mark Robinson by not indicting his character further," Democratic strategist Lucy Caldwell observed.
For his part, Chaffetz said he did not expect Robinson's scandal to negatively impact Trump in North Carolina.
"You know, some of these things that come out when the ballots are already printed. Really, did it have to come out now?" Chaffetz moaned. "How long did they actually know about this story? That never really passes the basic sniff test."
"Yeah, well, there is the question of where it came from," Kurtz agreed.
Caldwell, however, accused the two panelists of letting Robinson off the hook.
"Yeah, I just have to say around the timing question, I don't think that we should spend too much time on that when we are, as a means of doing that, we are making it such that Mark Robinson isn't held accountable," she explained. "These are credible reports. Some of them did come out as early as August. There was still plenty of time for him to be replaced."
