Virginia Governor Ralph Northam's bizarre Saturday press conference quickly went viral, with many on Twitter in pure disbelief at his admission to donning blackface for a Michael Jackson costume in the 80s.
The 59-year-old from Nassawadox became more of a laughing stock when he brazenly admitted to dressing up as the late singer wearing similar footwear, a glove and shoe polish on his face to look like an African-American person.
During the excruciating appearance in the Executive Mansion in Richmond, he said he later learned from a friend Seth that doing so for a dance competition was indeed inappropriate and he apologized to his friend at the time.
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Ralph Northam in a Saturday press conference denied being in a racist photograph in his school yearbook
Twitter users mocked Northam for his press conference, with many making light of his willingness to share the Jackson story
Despite his revelation about donning blackface to do the Moonwalk, Northam said he felt sick after seeing the image of people wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe and blackface and would remember if he had done so.
However it seemed he hoped to get ahead of another possible embarrassment by admitting to the racist dance competition incident, a move that definitely backfired.
'Holy s**t this is better than the super bowl,' said Sonny Bunch.
'"I killed a guy just not the guy you think I killed." - the Governor Ralph Northam defense,' added Chuck Wendig.
The sentiment was shared by Symone D. Sanders who said: 'Who among us believes Governor Northam knows how to do the moonwalk? This is just ridiculous. Yesterday he said "IT WAS ME!" Today he wants us to 'take his word for it."'
Many could not believe Northam's willingness to admit that he had such a musical history with blackface.
'Donald Trump and Ralph Northam - early 1990s,' said Ryan Mammen, sharing a throwback photo of President Trump meeting with Michael Jackson.
Eugene Robinson added: 'Northam presser was a real "Thriller," but in a "Bad" way. No, in 1984 it was not "Human Nature" to wear blackface. He needs to start with the "Man in the Mirror," and -- you know what's coming -- "Beat It."'
'OMG,' exclaimed Lauren Gambino. 'Someone asked if Northam can still moonwalk and he looked around as if searching for enough space to show off the move. His wife jumped in to say it was not the appropriate circumstance.'
Other users just couldn't help but poke at the many holes in Northam press conference.
'Did... did... did Northam just give a pro tip on the difficulty with using shoe polish for blackface?!?!' asked Daniel W. Drezner.
'Northam has “Yearbook Amnesia” too,' added Ana Navarro, making reference to Brett Kavanaugh. 'He’s now qualified to be Trump’s nominee to the US Supreme Court.'
'Somewhere, there is a sista who dated Northam in college who is ignoring his calls,' said @FeministaJones. 'I want her story, I swear I do. I need an exclusive, sis. If you're reading this, you're safe with me.'
Northam made contradictory statements to a room full of people eager to know why he admitted to something he claims now not to have done, but Northam didn't manage to provide a clear explanation.
Northam added that his former classmates backed up his belief he was not in the racist photo.
He also confessed in the news conference to having the nickname C**nman, but he said he had no idea why the name was attached to him from a group of people.
An insider said Northam was willing to use facial recognition technology to prove he doesn't appear in the offending picture.
During the excruciating appearance in the Executive Mansion, Northam said he later learned from a friend Seth that wearing the Jackson face was actually innapropriate
He said he admitted to being in the photo because didn't buy his school yearbook and hadn't seen it but realized on reflection he wasn't in the picture
Northam appeared with his wife who he said helped him change for the better after he donned blackface to emulate Michael Jackson
The Democratic party tweeted Saturday morning: 'We made the decision to let Governor Northam do the correct thing and resign this morning - we have gotten word he will not do so this morning.
'We stand with Democrats across Virginia and the country calling him to immediately resign. He no longer has our confidence or our support. Governor Northam must end this chapter immediately, step down, and let Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax heal Virginia's wounds and move us forward.
'We can think of no better person than Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax to do so.'
Ralph Northam is now allegedly denying being a racist photograph after he appeared in a video statement on Friday night vowing to serve out his term despite calls to resign
The yearbook page from Northam's 1984 medical school yearbook is seen above
A photo on Northam's yearbook page depicts a man in blackface and another in a KKK robe
Former Vice President Joe Biden agreed in a tweet: 'There is no place for racism in America. Governor Northam has lost all moral authority and should resign immediately, Justin Fairfax is the leader Virginia needs now.'
Bernie Sanders said on the micro-blogging website: 'Gov. Northam should resign. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax should step in and begin a new day for Virginia.'
Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, joined in with a similar sentiment.
Fairfax is the second black person to be elected to statewide office in Virginia.
After a Democrat familiar with the situation previously spoke to the Associated Press off-the-record, Lucas added in a tweet about Northam's change of mind after the apology: 'He should have said that yesterday then. He just told me he didn't think it's him. And I said, 'Ralph, this is a day late and a dollar short. It's too late'.'
Northam was allegedly calling state lawmakers Saturday to try and gain support so he can remain in office despite top politicians calling on him to resign.
Representative Robert C. Scott of Virginia, an African-American Democrat who is a senior member of the congressional delegation, told the New York Times he wanted to see if there are any new facts in his statement.
Scott told the publication Northam had spoke to Virginia Democrats Tim Kaine and Mark Warner Saturday.
But on Saturday, protesters appeared outside the Governors Mansion on Capitol Hill, Virginia.
Protesters held signs that read 'Virginia Forward', 'Blackface No Place' and 'You must resign. State the facts. No racist governor. We wants Fairfax'.
Others included statements such as 'You must apologize to black people first', 'Get wrecked Ralph', 'Lesson #1: Blackface is racist' and simply put '#NorthamResign'.
Northam is seen left in a 1981 VMI yearbook photo that lists his nickname as 'Coonman', and right in a 1984 yearbook photo from Eastern Virginia Medical School
The Democratic party tweeted in a statement Saturday morning that Northam should go
They wrote: 'We made the decision to let Governor Northam do the correct thing and resign'
They suggested Governor Justin Fairfax 'heal Virginia's wounds and move us forward'
The party added that they could 'think of no better person to do so' than Just Fairfax
Portsmouth Democrat Lucas said she learned during a private conversation that Northam had no plan to resign and did not support the decision
Former Vice President Joe Biden agreed in a tweet: 'There is no place for racism in America'
Bernie Sanders said on the micro-blogging website: 'Justin Fairfax should step in'
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi called for his resignation in a tweet on Saturday
House Speaker Kirk Cox and Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment said Saturday the governor had lost the public's confidence, and it is in the state's best interests for him to step down.
The Republicans join a growing chorus of elected officials in Virginia and elsewhere.
He lost support from virtually the entire state Democratic party and other key allies, who urged the governor to leave office.
The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, the state House Democratic Caucus and the state Senate Democratic Caucus all called on Northam to resign late Friday, along with several key progressive groups that have been some of the governor's closest political allies.
Their calls for Northam to step down came in a wave late Friday, after the Democrat confirmed in an apology on Friday that he had appeared in the photo in the 1984 yearbook from Eastern Virginia Medical School, but vowed to serve his full term in office.
He apologized for appearing in a 'racist and offensive' costume, but did not specify which of the two men in the photo was him.
State Senator Louise Lucas (left) said 'Ralph, this is a day late and a dollar short. It's too late'. She wanted Governor Justin Fairfax (right) to assume Northam's role, as did many
Demonstrators appeared outside the Governors Mansion at the Capitol in Richmond, Virginia
They held signs and chanted on Saturday, the day after her apologized for the photograph
Protesters held signs that read 'Virginia Forward', 'Blackface No Place' and 'You must resign. State the facts. No racist governor. We wants Fairfax'
'#NorthamResign': The demonstrators were calling for the resignation of Northam after the 30-year-old photo resurfaced
The photo from his medical school yearbook resurfaced which appears on a page labeled 'Ralph Shearer Northam' alongside other pictures of Northam, including a headshot, a photo of him kneeling in a cowboy hat, and another of him sitting next to a Corvette.
The photo in question depicts two men. One is wearing back coloring on his hands and face, along with plaid pants and a bowtie, a white Panama hat, and sungasses.
The other individual is wearing a makeshift white hood and robe in the style of the Ku Klux Klan. Both men are holding beers.
Under the photo, text states that Northam's alma mater is the Virginia Military Institute and that his interest is pediatrics.
His quote is given as: 'There are more old drunks than old doctors in this world so I think I'll have another beer.'
The photo was first circulated on Friday afternoon by the conservative news site Big League Politics, which viewed it in the school's library. Other outlets were able to independently view and confirm the photo.
In another startling revelation, another photo emerged on Friday showing Northam in his 1981 undergraduate yearbook at the Virginia Military Institute.
The entry lists one of Northam's nicknames as 'Coonman'. The nickname seemingly refers to the racial epithet, but its meaning is unclear.
Northam is considered a rising star in the Democrat party, but the revelation of the disturbing 1984 photo threatened to derail aspirations he may have had for higher office.
On Friday, the calls for Northam's resignation came from all quarters. Republican state Senator Bryce Reeves said in a statement that Northam should resign if the reports of the photos are accurate.
'I hope that this picture is inaccurate and that the Governor brings clarity to this issue. This has no place in Virginia,' Reeves said.
The NAACP, along with national president Derrick Johnson, also called for Northam's resignation.
'Black face in any manner is always racist and never okay. No matter the party affiliation, we can not stand for such behavior,' Johnson wrote in a tweet.
Kamala Harris, a Democrat senator from California and contender for the party's 2020 presidential nomination, echoed the call.
'Leaders are called to a higher standard, and the stain of racism should have no place in the halls of government. The Governor of Virginia should step aside so the public can heal and move forward together,' Harris wrote on Twitter.
Senator Cory Booker, who announced his presidential aspirations on Friday, was quick to chime in: 'These images arouse centuries of anger, anguish, and racist violence and they've eroded all confidence in Gov. Northam's ability to lead. We should expect more from our elected officials. He should resign.'
Another contender for the Democratic nomination, Julian Castro, joined the call, calling the image of Northam 'racist and unconscionable'.
Northam's mentor and key ally, former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, called for him to resign as well.
'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,' McAuliffe said, calling the photo 'racist, unacceptable and inexcusable at any age and any time.'
If Northam were to resign, Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax, who is African-American, would assume the governor's office.
In a statement, the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus said that 'what has been revealed is disgusting, reprehensible, and offensive.' The group stopped short of calling for resignation, saying it was 'still processing' the revelation.
In a video statement released on Friday night, Northam rejected the calls for his resignation.
'I am committed to continuing that fight through the remainder of my term, and living up to the expectations you set for me,' Northam said in the direct appeal to voters.
Last week, Florida's Republican secretary of state resigned after photos from a 2005 Halloween party showed him in blackface while dressed as a Hurricane Katrina victim.
During his election campaign, Northam repeatedly labeled his Republican opponent Ed Gillespie as 'racist'.
One campaign commercial, funded by the Latino Victor Fund SuperPAC, depicted a white man in a pickup truck with a Gillespie bumper sticker attempting to run down non-white children.
'VA is an inclusive and diverse community—we won't put up with Ed Gillespie's racist rhetoric and fearmongering,' Northam wrote in an October 2017 tweet.
Northam, a pediatric neurologist who graduated from the medical school in Norfolk, Virginia in 1984, caused outrage this week when he suggested that a pregnancy could be terminated during the baby's birth.
He made shocking abortion remarks about third trimester abortion in an interview with WTOP-FM on Wednesday, as he attempted to explain a Democrat delegate's earlier remarks supporting a bill relaxing restrictions on late-term abortions.
The governor described a hypothetical situation where a severely deformed newborn infant could be left to die.
He said that if a woman were to desire an abortion as she's going into labor, the baby would be delivered and then 'resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue' between doctors and the mother.
The remark drew immediate and furious condemnation from prominent conservatives around the country.
President Donald Trump also joined the chorus, without naming Northam, tweeting on Thursday that 'Democrats are becoming the Party of late term abortion.'
https://hienalouca.com/2019/02/03/twitter-bashes-ralph-northam-over-his-press-conference-where-he-flip-flopped-over-blackface-photo/
Main photo article Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s bizarre Saturday press conference quickly went viral, with many on Twitter in pure disbelief at his admission to donning blackface for a Michael Jackson costume in the 80s.
The 59-year-old from Nassawadox became more of a laughing stock when he brazenly...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/02/02/21/9317368-6661401-image-a-38_1549143392572.jpg
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