- Virginia Governor Ralph Northam is under intense pressure to leave office Friday night, after the discovery of a yearbook photo, in which he appeared either in blackface or in a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood. The press never found the yearbook, which was sitting on file at a local library, during last year’s Virginia governor race.
- Governor Northam apologized: “for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now.” In a statement Friday evening, Northam did not resign, or identify which of the people in the photo was him.
- Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julian Castro, was the first presidential hopeful to call on his fellow Democrat to resign. He was quickly joined by Sens. Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Sherrod Brown, and Cory Booker.
- Local politicians have also begun weighing in. The Virginia Black Legislative Caucus urged Northam to resign, and in an emergency conference call, concluded at 11:15 PM Eastern, state Democrats found they could no longer work with the embattled governor.
- The yearbook scandal comes after an already tumultuous week for Northam. Social conservatives had criticized him for supporting (and clumsily attempting to defend) looser restrictions on late-term abortions. Planned Parenthood also called on Northam to resign.
