President Donald Trump called Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam “unforgivable” on Saturday, responding to the controversy over a racist photo from the Democrat’s medical school yearbook.
After previously admitting to appearing in the image, which showed a man in blackface next to another clad in a Ku Klux Klan hood, Northam backpedaled during a press conference, claiming he actually wasn’t in the photo.
Trump called out Northam on Twitter, writing the reversal occurred “24 hours after apologizing for appearing in the picture.” He also bashed the governor over his recent remarks on a bill in the Virginia state legislature that sought to lift abortion restrictions.
Trump added that Northam’s 2017 Republican gubernatorial challenger, Ed Gillespie, must rue that his staff didn’t know of the photo so that he could have used it against the Democrat.
Northam defeated Gilespie, 54 percent to 45 percent.
In his remarks to reporters Saturday, Northam said that while he wasn’t in the 1984 picture, he did wer shoe polish on his face while impersonating Michael Jackson for a dance contest that same year.
Calls from both sides of the aisle have mounted across the country for Northam’s resignation. He has so far refused to step down, vowing to serve out his term in office, which runs through 2021.