Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, D-Va., broke his silence in the wake of a scandal engulfing Gov. Ralph Northam on Saturday but pointedly refused to say his boss should stay as governor, suggesting the state needed “leaders with the ability to unite” Virginians.
“Like so many Virginians, I am shocked and saddened by the images in the Governor’s yearbook that came to light yesterday. They are an example of a painful scourge that continues to haunt us today and holds us back from the progress we need to make,” Fairfax, who is black, said in a statement issued after Northam’s press conference to discuss the racist photo in his medical school yearbook.
— Justin Fairfax (@LGJustinFairfax) February 2, 2019
Fairfax thanked Northam for apologizing for offensive behavior in his 20s and said he has never seen a racist side of Northam. But Fairfax said that cannot make up for these new revelations.
Northam claimed at a press conference Saturday that he was not one of the people in the 1984 photo of two men, one dressed in blackface and the other in Ku Klux Klan attire, but that he did don blackface for a dance contest that same year as part of a Michael Jackson costume.
“At this critical and defining moment in the history of Virginia and this nation, we need leaders with the ability to unite and help us rise to the better angels of our nature,” Fairfax said. “I remain committed to serving and helping to heal the Commonwealth moving forward. Now more than ever, we must make decisions in the best interests of the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
JUST IN: Hearing from #Virginia’s LtGov @FairfaxJustin @LGJustinFairfax for the first time in response to @GovernorVA’s remarks. ?=@nleimbach @nbcwashington @erika_news @shomaristone @frankthorp pic.twitter.com/C1A6yeUNUL
— David Culver (@David_Culver) February 2, 2019
Not all African-American Democrats are supporting Northam.
The 18-member all-Democrat Virginia Legislative Black Caucus renewed its call for to resign following his admission Saturday that he painted his face black to look like singer Michael Jackson decades earlier and refusal to step down for the racist photo on his yearbook page.
“We amplify our call for the Governor to resign,” the caucus said in a statement. “In light of his public admission and apology for his decision to appear in the photo, he has irrevocably lost the faith and trust of the people he was elected to serve. Changing his public story today now casts further doubt on his ability to regain that trust.”
Northam has claimed he is not the person in a photo on his page in a 1984 medical school yearbook of a person in a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood and a man who had painted his face black.
