Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s speaking with reporters after many Dems and others have called for him to resign over a racist photo in his college yearbook, and it’s… something else:
Am I watching SNL right now? This Northam press conference has to be a parody. This cannot be real.
— Lisa Boothe (@LisaMarieBoothe) February 2, 2019
Northam is NOT going to resign at this time but he seems to be spinning himself into a deeper hole:
Gov. Northam appearing with his wife, reading a statement then taking questions. pic.twitter.com/SQCsyYo0LZ
— Hamza Shaban (@hshaban) February 2, 2019
Northam on seeing yearbook photo yesterday: “I was seeing it for the first time. I did not purchase the EVMS yearbook and I was not aware of what was on my page…I believe…that I am not either of the people in that photo.”
— Sarah McCammon (@sarahmccammon) February 2, 2019
"I was unaware of what was on my page" Gov. Northam @ABC7News
— Jonathan Elias (@EliasABC7) February 2, 2019
Virginia Gov. Northam: “It was offensive, racist and despicable…I was unaware of what was on my page…I believe then and now that I am not either of those people in that photo.”
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) February 2, 2019
But wait, there’s more:
Wait, did Northam just admit to wearing blackface at another time?
— Caitlin Huey-Burns (@CHueyBurns) February 2, 2019
OMG Northam says he wasn't any of the people in the yearbook photo but admits he wore black face as part of a Michael Jackson costume dance party in San Antonio within that same time period
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 2, 2019
While Northam maintains he is neither individual in the racist photo that surfaced yesterday, he says he remembers putting on blackface for a different occasion: "I look back now and regret that I did not understand the harmful legacy of an action like that" pic.twitter.com/tcJoW8sCo7
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 2, 2019
So, Gov Northam isn’t the person in blackface in the photo, but he did attend a party in blackface at another event? This is going to be a headache for the rest of this term — and for the 2020 field.
— Phil Elliott (@Philip_Elliott) February 2, 2019
Northam's defense is that he wore blackface but not in that yearbook picture
— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) February 2, 2019
"That's the wrong blackface photo of me!" -Ralph Northam, politician?
— Krister Johnson (@KristerJohnson) February 2, 2019
Oh my.
Northam also said that for some reason people called him “Coonman”:
Virginia Gov. Northam says one of his nicknames was “coonman” and that he regrets that being used.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) February 2, 2019
Northam asked about the nickname "Coonman" and pivots to being called "Goose" instead… blames it on just two people who called him that and it somehow got in the yearbook.
That's totally believable.
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) February 2, 2019
Also, Northam raised the possibility that the photo was mistakenly placed on his yearbook page:
Northam says he still doesn’t have a copy of the yearbook, but was told that mistakes were sometimes made in the yearbook layout.
— Sarah McCammon (@sarahmccammon) February 2, 2019
Gov. Ralph Northam (D-Va.) says he's "not going to speculate or hypothesize" how a photo of a guy in blackface and a KKK uniform would "mistakenly" end up on his yearbook page.
— James Hohmann (@jameshohmann) February 2, 2019
So… who’s buying all this? The facepalms are bipartisan:
I didn't think it was possible for Ralph Northam to make this story even worse.
He just made it so much worse.
— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) February 2, 2019
Y'all… there is approximately a zero percent chance Ralph Northam didn't know that photo was on his yearbook page prior to this week.
— Charlotte Clymer?️? (@cmclymer) February 2, 2019
???DEM NORTHAM DOUBLES DOWN ON RACISM??
– Says he does not “believe” he is one of the racist characters on **his** YEARBOOK PAGE
– Says he never saw image & has “no idea” how pic got there (Bullshit)
– ADMITS to MORE BLACKFACE “I darkened my face as Michael Jackson once”
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 2, 2019
THIS IS SERIOUSLY WHAT HE SAID
Northam: I don't know why that photo was on my yearbook page. I don't know why that nickname was in a separate yearbook. I only occasionally wear blackface, when I dress up as Michael Jackson.
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) February 2, 2019
Let me get this straight. Gov. Northam's defense is to say "that blackface photo couldn't be me because I remember the OTHER time I was in blackface too well"?
— S.E. Cupp (@secupp) February 2, 2019
Governor Ralph Northam: It's not me in the photo, but I thought it was at first because I wore blackface around that time to uhh… dress up as Michael Jackson at another party just like the one in the photo. pic.twitter.com/rQ8ZyS6Qm6
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) February 2, 2019
Shorter Northram: Even though I admitted yesterday that I dressed up in blackface that one time, I'm not sure now that I did it THAT time, BUT I did dress up in blackface that OTHER time, so…
?????? https://t.co/CliggWtXwR
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) February 2, 2019
Editor’s note: This post has been updated to include additional tweets.