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.
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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.
Fox News Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report
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