Jerry Falwell Jr. apologizes for blackface tweet referencing Ralph Northam after backlash

Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. apologized on social media for tweeting a custom image of a mask featuring people wearing a Ku Klux Klan costume and blackface.

Falwell Jr. issued his apology Monday after several staffers at the school resigned in protest over a two-week-old tweet in which he stated opposition to Gov. Ralph Northam’s mandate requiring people to wear face masks during the coronavirus pandemic. In his tweet, he joked that he would “reluctantly comply” with the order if allowed to wear a mask with the photograph believed to show Northam in either blackface or a KKK robe.