It has been just days since CNN published a deeply reported story detailing the offensive comments allegedly left on an adult website's message board by North Carolina Republican gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson. And since then, the state's already contentious 2024 governor's race has been upended, as strategists from both parties scramble to recalibrate with less than two months until election day. Robinson, currently serving as North Carolina's lieutenant governor, has denied the allegations that he called himself a "Black Nazi" who endorsed slavery and vowed to remain in the race against Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein.

Robinson has a documented history of making racist and bigoted remarks about Jewish people, women and members of the LGBTQ+ community. There have also been claims of a significant pornography addiction. Nevertheless, North Carolina Republicans nominated him to run for governor by a margin of more than three to one.

What did the commentators say?
That Robinson has been within striking distance of high elected office is "representative of an interesting pattern within the modern Republican Party," said The American Prospect. It's a pattern wherein politicians can "earn fame within the party for incendiary comments but are soon forced to backtrack once they are in the national spotlight."

Republicans "knew Robinson was a problematic candidate," said Noah Rothman at the National Review. "They just didn't care." North Carolina voters were "persuaded to haul the baggage Robinson brought with him onto their own backs because Donald Trump insisted on it." Republicans "routinely looked past Robinson's breathtaking hypocrisy," and "held him up as a champion," Billy Ball said at MSNBC. Some Republicans are now attempting to balance distancing themselves and the party from Robinson, while retaining the capacity to support him should his political fortunes change.

What next?
National GOP groups are already "pulling financial support" for Robinson's campaign, said CNN. Even Trump's camp is "alarmed" at the idea that Robinson's "political baggage and incendiary rhetoric will be a drag" on the presidential ticket, said Axios. Robinson's campaign "appears to be in freefall" after CNN's investigation, said New York magazine. His extremism is a "bit much even for the modern-day GOP."

It has been 15 months since OceanGate's Titan submersible imploded, killing all five people aboard, while on the way to visit the wreck of the RMS Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean. Questions remain about what went wrong, and the U.S. Coast Guard is holding a series of investigatory hearings to determine what caused the submersible's loss and recommend safety measures to prevent this kind of disaster from happening again.

What has been revealed?
The hearings have made public a "flood of information about the doomed vessel's design and operation" and "paint a damning picture," while also revealing some of the key mistakes and flaws that may have led to the implosion, said Wired. The most notable perhaps is testimony that OceanGate "skirted, or simply ignored, accepted construction practices for submersibles." The company — whose founder, Stockton Rush, died aboard the Titan — "tested only one scale model of the innovative carbon fiber hull and, despite it failing early under high pressures, proceeded straight to building a full-scale hull." 

The Titan had also experienced "dozens of problems during previous expeditions, including 70 equipment issues in 2021 and 48 more in 2022," said The New York Times. During the winter, it was "stored in bitterly cold temperatures outside a facility in Newfoundland, with no protection from the elements."

How can submersible safety be improved?
One immediate change that can be made is company culture, which in the case of OceanGate was "centered on 'making money' and offered 'very little in the way of science,'" former OceanGate Marine Operations Director David Lochridge testified, according to CNN. The company was "all smoke and mirrors" when it came to safety.

It should be noted that there has been "up to this point a perfect track record in deep submersions," Chris Roman, an oceanography professor at the University of Rhode Island, said to CNN. There are "no shortcuts here, especially in this business," said Roman. And "if you cut corners, it will bite you."