Virginia's governor refuses to resign in a trainwreck press conference

2025-04-28 06:02:23admin

It hasn't been a good Saturday for Virginia Governor Ralph Northam.

Northam made headlines on Friday after his personal page from a 1984 yearbook surfaced featuring a photo of two men: one wearing Ku Klux Klan robes and a hood, and the other in blackface. Hours after the offensive image surfaced, the Virginia governor released a statement.

Tweet may have been deleted

Northam, a Democrat who was elected to the office of governor in 2018's election, quickly faced calls to resign from within his own party. Among those calling for his exit are Virginia House Democrats, the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, assorted would-be candidates for the 2020 presidential election, and a growing lineup of others.

Mashable Top Stories Stay connected with the hottest stories of the day and the latest entertainment news. Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

SEE ALSO: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was asked if Trump is a racist. Her answer: 'Yeah, no question.'

In the face of all this pressure to resign, Northam did the opposite. Scattered reports on Saturday morning suggested that the governor had communicated with his old college pals and decided to push back against the criticism.

So despite the fact that Governor Northam issued a statement on Friday that quite literally read "I am deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo," he stood up in front of reporters on Saturday and claimed the opposite: it wasn't him.

He did much more than that, too. He claimed that while he's not in the photo, he did once wear blackface when he performed a Michael Jackson number in a dance contest. He also repeatedly sidestepped questions about offensiveness of such an act, and refused again and again to resign despite the numerous calls for him to do so.

The response, both in the briefing room and all across social media, was incredulous. It seems like no one believes a word Northam had to say. (Plenty of people are also wondering why Northam is getting such attention -- as he deserves, to be clear! -- while folks like Steve King and Donald Trump just get to act like this on any day ending with a "y," just because.)