WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump responded to Governor Ralph Northam's yearbook photo controversy Saturday night. He used Twitter to do it.
In the tweet, Trump criticized Northam's response to the situation involving a picture from the 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook that appears on Northam's page. The photo features a person in blackface and another person in a Ku Klux Klan outfit.
On Friday, Northam acknowledged he was in the picture, but on Saturday he backtracked and said he was not. The photo controversy came to light just days after the governor made a controversial statement about late-term abortion.
Trump connected the two, concluding with one word: "Unforgivable!"
In a follow-up tweet, the president mentioned Ed Gillespie, whom Northam beat in the gubernatorial race. Trump said if Gillespie's campaign found "that terrible picture before the election" he would have won by 20 points.
Northam has been asked to resign by many people, but he said he didn't plan on doing it.
Influential Democratic politicians from Virginia, including U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and Congressman Bobby Scott, were among the people who asked Northam to resign. Warner, Kaine, and Scott said they believed Northam could "no longer... effectively serve as Governor of Virginia."
Full statement from Senators Warner and Kaine and Congressman Scott:
“After we watched his press conference today, we called Governor Northam to tell him that we no longer believe he can effectively serve as Governor of Virginia and that he must resign. Governor Northam has served the people of the Commonwealth faithfully for many years, but the events of the past 24 hours have inflicted immense pain and irrevocably broken the trust Virginians must have in their leaders. He should step down and allow the Commonwealth to begin healing.”
