politics

The Virginia governor joins the annals of bizarre political press conferences.

It was no easy feat. But on Saturday, Ralph Northam staked a claim in the annals of most surreal political press conferences, presiding over a 40-minute extravaganza that would do Mark Sanford and Jim McGreevey proud. Or something like that.

In a bid to salvage his job, the Democratic governor of Virginia denied he was one of the men dressed up as a Klansman and in blackface in a picture on his medical school yearbook page — after admitting the night before he was, in fact, in the photo.

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But that was just the start. Here are six of the strangest moments of the presser.

BEAT IT

Northam said he “vividly” remembers dressing up in blackface to imitate Michael Jackson at a talent show in 1984 and that this memory solidified his belief that he wasn’t photographed in his yearbook dressed in black face or in a Klan outfit. But when asked a question by reporter, he couldn’t remember the artist’s name and relied on his wife, Pam, to whisper his name.

“I dressed up in a … what’s his name, the singer? Michael Jackson. Excuse me. That’s why I have Pam with me,” he said.

SHOE POLISH & MOONWALKS

In explaining how he used shoe polish to don blackface, Northam wondered if other people at the press conference had used the same technique.

“I used just a little bit of shoe polish to put on my cheeks and the reason I used a very little bit because – I don’t know if anyone’s ever tried that – you cannot get shoe polish off,” he said. “But it was a dance contest. I had always liked Michael Jackson. I actually won the contest because I had learned to do the Moonwalk.”

THE MYSTERY OF ‘COONMAN’

In a different yearbook at Virginia Military Institute, Northam was nicknamed “Coonman.” Why? He wasn’t quite sure, he said.

“My main nickname in high school and in college was ‘Goose’ because when my voice was changing, I would change an octave. There were two individuals, as best as I can recollect, at VMI they were a year ahead of me. They called me ‘Coonman’. I don’t know their motives or intent. I know who they are. That was the extent of that. And it ended up in the yearbook. And I regret that.”

LATE LEARNER

Northam said he only realized the Michael Jackson blackface was offensive during a conversation about blackface with a young campaign staffer.

“I have a very close friend who was my assistant during the campaign. He really did a good job of communicating to me why that’s so offensive. And it was actually during that conversation, I said, ‘You know, Seth, I put some shoe polish on my face, I competed in a dance contest dressed up as Michael Jackson. And I said, ‘I assume you probably would think that’s offensive.’ He said, ‘I would.’ And I said, ‘You know what, Seth, I appreciate you being open with me. I apologize for what I’ve done in the past. And I can promise you I’ll never do that again in the future.’”

ON SECOND THOUGHT

Northam said he jumped the gun Friday when he admitted in writing he was in the KKK-blackface photo, which he believes was mistakenly placed on his yearbook page without his knowledge.

“I didn’t study it as well as I should. The first comment I made to the individual that showed it to me, I said this can’t be me.”

Why didn’t he say that from the start?

“My word is important to me and my first intention … was to reach out and apologize. As you might imagine and understand, there are a lot of people that are hurt by this and I wanted to reach out to them. After I did that last night, I sat and looked at the picture. Today, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to classmates, my roommate and I am convinced that is not my picture.”

WAIT. WHAT?

A reporter asked Northam if he could still do the moonwalk. After pausing with an “ummm,” Northam sounded as if he was ready to answer the question before his wife, Pam, stopped him.

“My wife says, ‘inappropriate circumstances,’” he said.

Politics

The Democratic governor of Virginia is holding a 2:30 p.m. EST news conference, but he’s not expected to resign over a racist photo from his medical school yearbook.

Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam refused calls to resign from his own state party and nearly every major Democratic presidential contender Saturday after a picture on his medical school yearbook page surfaced showing a picture of two men dressed as a Ku Klux Klansman and in blackface.

Northam spent Saturday morning calling lawmakers and Democrats in an attempt to save his job. After apologizing Friday night for appearing in the racist photo, Northam reversed course and said he believed he was not in the picture, according to sources and the Associated Press.

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Northam, who has three years remaining in his term, announced he’ll hold a press conference at 2:30 EST, but is not expected to resign. He’s reportedly floating the explanation that the picture was a mix-up involving an unknown other person or people, but it’s unclear why he admitted to being depicted in the photograph the day before.

Northam’s shifting story and refusal to call it quits — as the state’s African-American lieutenant governor, Justin Fairfax, maintained silence — stunned his fellow Democrats, influential progressives and African-American leaders, who had expected him to announce his resignation Saturday morning.

Aside from the offensive photo, another yearbook of Northam’s from the Virginia Military Institute listed one of his nicknames as “Coonman.”

“He is now and forever more ‘Governor Coonman,’” Ben Jealous, past president of the NAACP and former Maryland gubernatorial candidate, told POLITICO. “What’s worse: you putting this racist photograph on your medical school yearbook and not knowing if you were in blackface or dressed as the Klan, or today you wanting us to believe that you were mistaken.

“It’s on his page in his medical school yearbook,” Jealous added. “Just putting it there shows he was ok with it. His explanation is not believable.”

In a remarkable rebuke, the Virginia Democratic Party issued a public statement criticizing Northam’s decision not to quit immediately.

“We made the decision to let Governor Northam do the correct thing and resign this morning — we have gotten word he will not do so this morning,” the party said on Twitter.

The nation’s top Democrat in elected office, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, added her voice to the chorus of party leaders telling Northam to go.

“The photo is racist and contrary to fundamental American values,” she said on Twitter. “I join my colleagues in Virginia calling on Governor Northam to do the right thing so that the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia can heal and move forward.

More surprising to Democrats was word that Northam was changing his story about the racist photograph.

“We’re hearing this is his new story, that it’s not him. It’s crazy. He needs to go,” said one Virginia Democrat who heard second-hand that Northam was now claiming he wasn’t in the picture. “Everyone believes that except for him and the Republicans.”

For Republicans, Northam was receiving his comeuppance for framing his 2017 opponent, Republican Ed Gillespie, as a bigot.

Hours after the photo surfaced Friday, Northam issued a statement apologizing but stating that he planned to remain in the job.

“Earlier today, a website published a photograph of me from my 1984 medical school yearbook in a costume that is clearly racist and offensive,” Northam said in a statement. “I am deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now.”

That prompted a chorus of calls to step down from Democrats, including virtually all the major candidates already or expected to run for president.

Compounding Northam’s problems: Democrats were already upset with him for the way he embraced a controversial abortion bill that put the party on the defensive. Northam’s response to the racist photo was clumsier still.

After the conservative website Big League Politics unearthed the picture, Northam’s administration said nothing for hours. Then he released a written statement, followed by a Twitter posting that had the look of a hostage video.

Then, as all the major Democratic candidates and hopefuls for president weighed in with resignation calls along with the NAACP, Democrats buzzed with word that he would hold a press conference Saturday morning. But it never happened.

Ben Crump, an African-American activist and prominent civil rights attorney, said he was surprised Northam would decide to stay and hurt his party.

“I don’t care what the governor’s story is now,” Crump said. “He was a grown man when he put this in a yearbook. And if the Democratic Party can’t stand against someone in blackface or dressed like the Klan, what does it stand for?”