Now Virginia’s third-ranking official admits he wore blackface in college – after governor’s own race shame and sex attack allegation against lieutenant governor – and if all three Democrats step down a REPUBLICAN would run the state
State Attorney General Mark Herring has urged Ralph Northam to step down
Northam’s medical school yearbook page shows a photo of one person in blackface and another in a KKK robe
A chorus of Democrats have called on Northam to resign
Northam first apologized, then said it isn’t him in the racist photo
Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax is accused of sexually assaulting a woman at Dem. convention
Herring told Black Caucus members he himself wore blackface in 1980
Dressed as a rapper and performed a song at a party while attending college
Herring is third in line should both Northam and Fairfax step down
By DAVID MARTOSKO, U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR
DAILYMAIL.COM
6 February 2019
The Democratic state attorney general who could become Virginia’s governor if the current top dog in Richmond and his deputy both resign has a potentially disqualifying scandal of his own.
Mark Herring told members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus during an emergency closed-door meeting that he wore blackface on at least one occasion while he was a University of Virginia student in 1980.
Moments later sources told NBC News that Lieutenant Gov. Justin Fairfax, who was accused last week of raping a woman in 2004, snapped out of his normal mild manner to condemn her during a private meeting – shouting: ‘F**k that b***h!’
In a statement to the media, Herring said Wednesday morning that ‘[i]n 1980, when I was a 19-year-old undergraduate in college, some friends suggested we attend a party dressed like rappers we listened to at the time, like Kurtis Blow, and perform a song.’
‘It sounds ridiculous even now writing it. But because of our ignorance and glib attitudes – and because we did not have an appreciation for the experiences and perspectives of others – we dressed up and put on wigs and brown makeup.’
‘This was a onetime occurrence and I accept full responsibility for my conduct. That conduct clearly shows that, as a young man, I had a callous and inexcusable lack of awareness and insensitivity to the pain my behavior could inflict on others. It was really a minimization of both people of color, and a minimization of a horrific history I knew well even then.’
Mark Warner, one of Virginia’s two Democratic U.S. senators, told reporters at the Capitol in Washington: ‘I’m shocked and incredibly disappointed. This has been an awful week for Virginia.’
Fallout continues to accumulate from Governor Ralph Northan’s admission that he wore blackface after graduating from medical school, and a sexual assault allegation against Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax dating back 15 years.
The deepening scandal now puts Virginia’s three top officials – all of them Democrats – in danger of being forced out of office.
If they should all step down, a Republican, State Assembly Speaker Kirkland Cox, would take over the statehouse. Unless Northan were to remain governor, whoever holds his office could run for a full term in 2021 despite the state’s ‘one and your done’ term-limit law.
The Rest…HERE
