Gov. Ralph Northam, D-Va., met with key staff members for an unscheduled staff meeting on Sunday before the Super Bowl
and is apparently considering his next move after a photo
emerged showing a man in blackface and another in Ku Klux Klan garb in
his 1984 medical school yearbook page, a report said.
Northam resisted calls to
resign a day earlier-- insisting that he did not appear in the yearbook
photo, which contradicted his earlier remarks when he apologized for
the picture. The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, reported
that resignation is an active consideration, and called the meeting
emotional. The paper reported that there is another meeting set for
Monday.
Northam reportedly spent much of the day inside his home
meeting with close advisers who—to at least some degree—have differing
opinions on how to proceed. Some want the governor to fight through and
work to rebuild his image. Pam Northam, the state’s first lady, wants
her husband to continue to fight, the paper reported, citing two
sources.
Northam's office did not immediately respond to an email from Fox News early Monday.
Some
high-profile Democrats would prefer he rebuilds his image after leaving
office. Hillary Clinton and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Saturday
tweeted out that he needs to step aside.
The Virginian-Pilot
released the photo on Friday from Northam's 1984 Eastern Virginia
Medical School yearbook. The Post reported that the images first
appeared on Big League Politics, a conservative website.
Earlier in the week, Northam made headlines
over comments about abortion that he said were taken out of context. He
was on a radio program where he described a hypothetical situation
where an infant who is severely deformed or unable to survive after
birth could be left to die.
"So
in this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I can tell you
exactly what would happen, the infant would be delivered. The infant
would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s
what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would
ensue between the physicians and the mother," the former pediatric
neurologist said while on WTOP to discuss the Repeal Act.
That
prompted accusations from prominent Republicans that he supports
infanticide. Northam tweeted later: "I have devoted my life to caring
for children and any insinuation otherwise is shameful and disgusting."
Northam, in regards to the photo outrage, said he plans on continuing to lead.
"If
we get to the point where we feel that we’re not effective, that we’re
not efficient, not only for our caucuses, but the Commonwealth of
Virginia, then we will revisit this and make decisions," he said on
Saturday.
