McMorris Rodgers: Northam should resign over blackface row

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, called on Virginia governor Ralph Northam to resign after a controversial photo surfaced from his 1984 medical yearbook.

Northam’s 1984 yearbook page shows a picture of a person in blackface and another wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood next to different pictures of the governor.

McMorris Rodgers appeared on “Fox and Friends” Saturday morning and said, “I would join those that are saying that, in order for us to bring healing to our country I think he does need to step aside.”

A Virginia Democrat who has spoken with Gov. Ralph Northam told the Associated Press that the governor now does not believe he was in a racist picture in his 1984 medical yearbook and has no immediate plans to resign.

After the picture went public Friday, Northam issued a statement saying he was “sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo.”

But the Democrat who spoke to Northam said that after further reflection the governor said he has no memory of wearing either of the racist costumes and doesn’t not believe he is in the picture.

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.