President Donald Trump accused Virginia Democrats on Thursday of “killing” their state with their hypocrisy concerning two blackface scandals and a sexual assault allegation scandal surrounding three top leaders in the state.
“Democrats at the top are killing the Great State of Virginia,” Trump began in his tweet.
“If the three failing pols were Republicans, far stronger action would be taken. Virginia will come back HOME (Republican) in 2020!” he added.
Democrats at the top are killing the Great State of Virginia. If the three failing pols were Republicans, far stronger action would be taken. Virginia will come back HOME Republican) in 2020!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 7, 2019
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) faced bipartisan calls to resign after a picture from his 1984 medical school yearbook page surfaced recently.
The photo depicted two individuals standing together — someone in blackface and someone in a Ku Klux Klan outfit.
Although Northam (pictured above left) initially apologized for appearing in the photo, he later insisted he wasn’t in it. He said he would have remembered dressing up in blackface, in particular, because he dressed up as Michael Jackson in blackface around the same time.
But Northam thus far has refused to step down from the position he won in 2017.
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring (D) admitted on Wednesday to wearing blackface during a college party back in 1980.
Herring said in a statement that he had a “glaring example from my past that I have thought about with deep regret in the many years since, and certainly each time I took a step forward in public service, realizing that my goals and this memory could someday collide and cause pain for people I care about.”
Herring, who is second in line to the governorship, apologized for further causing “pain” to Virginians, calling it “the greatest shame I have ever felt.”
“In the days ahead, honest conversations and discussions will make it clear whether I can or should continue to serve as attorney general,” Herring said.
And Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D), for his part — the first in line to the Virginia governorship should Northam resign — became caught up in a sexual assault allegation scandal.
The Washington Post reported that a woman accused Fairfax of sexually assaulting her in a hotel room in 2004 during the Democratic National Convention in Boston.
Fairfax admitted to engaging in a sexual encounter with a woman — but insisted it was consensual.
The woman identified herself in a statement on Wednesday as Dr. Vanessa Tyson, a tenured professor at Scripps College. She claimed that The Post declined in March 2018 to publish her allegations against Fairfax.
The third in line to Virginia’s governorship is Kirk Cox, the Republican speaker of the House of Delegates.
Many conservatives on social media have noted that if Northam, Fairfax and Herring had all been Republicans, they already would have been ousted for their respective scandals.
Even some mainstream media members admitted to that.
Related: Virginia Dems Suffer Another Embarrassing Blackface Scandal
MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin confronted former Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) about her party’s shortcomings Thursday on “MSNBC Live.”
“There’s a dumpster fire in Virginia right now,” Melvin said. “You’ve got a governor who dressed in blackface … You’ve got a lieutenant governor accused of sexually assaulting a woman. Now you’ve got the attorney general also dressed in blackface.”
“They’re all Democrats. It’s starting to smell and look a little like hypocrisy there in the Commonwealth. If these three were Republicans, wouldn’t they be drummed out of office by now?” Melvin asked Edwards.
Edwards replied, “Well, let me just say it’s a mess. I don’t think we can have different standards for Democrats and Republicans.”
CNN anchor John Berman also admitted on Thursday on “New Day” that Democrats weren’t holding themselves to the same standards they applied to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when three woman came forward and accused him of sexually assaulting them decades ago — all of which he vehemently and consistently denied.
“If Democrats were to hold themselves to the standard they laid out before, there isn’t much question about what they would do. I mean, they have set the precedent … with how they questioned Brett Kavanaugh, at first,” Berman said.
“I mean, they have set that bar high — national Democrats have.”
Check out more in the video below:
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