Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., became the latest 2020 Democratic presidential contender to call for Gov. Ralph Northam’s resignation.
The Virginia Democrat came under fire Friday for a photo on his 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook page that shows two men, one in blackface and one in a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood.
“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,” Booker wrote on Twitter.
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.
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) February 2, 2019
Booker joined his fellow declared candidates Julian Castro, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and rumored candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., in calling for Northam’s resignation.
Northam has apologized for the photo, but has not said which man he is. He said Friday night he was committed to serving out the remainder of his term.
Other 2020 Democratic candidates, including Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, also weighed in. Brown told the Des Moines Register the photo was “awful” and “indefensible,” and he agreed with those who have called for Northam to step down.
Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, another 2020 contender, credited Northam for living a “good and admirable life” but said he had not addressed how the photo came to be or said how he could restore faith in his ability to lead.
“We all know that no single person is irreplaceable in any job, and the Governor needs to search deeply to determine whether he can both continue to lead and obtain the forgiveness of those who he has hurt. I suspect the answers to these questions is ‘no’ – which is why I would counsel him to resign,” Delaney said in a statement.
