Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Sunday repeated his call for the commonwealth’s current governor, Ralph Northam, to resign in light of revelations about Northam wearing blackface in the past.
On Friday, a photo from Northam’s medical school yearbook page emerged showing two men, one in blackface and another in a KKK hood. After initially saying he appeared in the photo, Northam changed course in a press conference Saturday and said he wasn’t in the photo, but that he had worn blackface on another occasion.
“Once that picture with the blackface and the klansman came out, there was no way you can continue to be the governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia,” McAuliffe told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview Sunday.
Northam served as lieutenant governor during McAuliffe’s governorship before being elected governor himself. On Friday, McAuliffe tweeted that Northam should resign.
The situation that he has put himself and the Commonwealth of Virginia in is untenable. It's time for Ralph to step down, and for the Commonwealth to move forward.
— Terry McAuliffe (@TerryMcAuliffe) February 2, 2019
The former governor expressed confusion Sunday regarding Northam’s shifting statements on the photo.
“Instinctively, you know if you put black paint on your face,” he said. “You know if you put a hood on. And so if it isn’t you, you come out immediately and say, ‘This is not me.'”
McAuliffe also predicted Northam would step down.
“If Ralph is watching this today, I know how much he loves this Commonwealth of Virginia,” he said. “And you’ve got to make the right decision. You’ve got to make the right moral decision. We have to bring people together.”
watch below
McAuliffe: "Instinctively, you know if you put black paint on your face. You know if you put a hood on. And so if it isn't you, you come out immediately and say, 'This is not me.'" pic.twitter.com/UhMORSRUAp
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) February 3, 2019
Happy black history month!
Jim Crow flies again…
T-Mac is doing what he needs to do. When are we going to take this same fight to the GOP and force them to get rid of their racists and misogynists?
If it was Northam the other person in the photo should come out and say so. No excuses for Northam if it was him for sure. What I think happened is he saw the photo, it was on his personal page in the yearbook and people were clamoring for him to say something. He said it was him in the picture, but would not say if he was in blackface or under the hood. That is surprising to me if you admit you were in the picture not to know which one you were. Maybe he thought admitting it and apologizing was easier than fighting it since it was on his personal yearbook page. Just saying. But after talking with his wife and others he decided to fight it instead. But I do know one thing he now has to prove he wasn’t in the picture and the pressure is on him so much to resign, he only has a short span of time to do it.
“Instinctively, you know if you put black paint on your face.” I am guessing he did not have a misspent youth. Pretty sure there were times I could have had a rhinoceros on my face and not noticed.