Newly-minted Virginia governor Ralph Northam (D, sorry, CNN, not R) is expected to make a statement this afternoon about the latest revelation in his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week.
Following the revelation that Northam is a proponent of infanticide, a yearbook photo from his med school days (i.e. as a man in his mid-twenties, not a teen in high school) surfaced that suggested that he was either wearing blackface or a KKK costume.
Northam issued an apology to his constituents:
Embattled Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam told at least one fellow Democrat Saturday that he was not in a racist 1984 yearbook photo of two men dressed in blackface and a Ku Klux Klan outfit — despite admitting he was in the picture a day earlier — and that he does not intend to resign, a dramatic twist in the face of mounting calls from members of his own party for him to step downVirginia State Senator Louise Lucas’ office told Fox News that Northam reached out to her to say that he is not in the photograph and that he would not be resigning. That came after the Virginia Democratic Party tweeted that it had received word that Northam would not be resigning over the photo as they believed he should.
Northam is facing calls for his resignation not just from the right but from some very powerful Democrats: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senators and 2020 Democrat presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, among many others.
Yet Northam appears to be attempting to hang on. It’s not clear why he thinks this is a viable option for him given the weight of the Democrat Party moving against him, but the latest reports (as of this writing) are that his remarks will be centered on moving forward as governor of Virginia.
I don’t see how this happens. As the prof pointed out, the Democrats set the playbook whereby transgressions from 35 years ago can destroy political careers and lives, so they really have no choice (as they had none with former Senator Al Franken in their #MeToo frenzy) but to follow through here.
After all, what leg will they have to stand on the next time an embarrassing decades-old photo, quote, or allegation against a Republican is made if they do not abide by their own rules? And of course, we must, it is our duty to, ensure that they live up to their own rules . . . Alinsky-style.
We’ll update as soon as Northam makes his statement.
Northam admits to wearing blackface before and refuses to resign.
While he admits to wearing blackface, he insists that he never wore a KKK outfit.
This is better how?
The tally for today: blackface donning, check; KKK-outfit donning, zero; resignation, zero.
This is not the end of this story, and we’ll keep you posted.
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