Video: On CNN’s SOTU, Terry McAuliffe Predicts Ralph Northam Will “Do the Right Thing” and Resign “Very Soon,” That “It Will Not Come to” Impeachment

This morning on CNN’s State of the Union, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe – a strong Ralph Northam ally, arguably the person who more than anyone made sure that Northam would be the Democratic nominee for governor in 2017- had the following things to say about Northam.

• “It doesn’t really matter what I believe or anyone else believes” about whether or not it’s Ralph Northam in the KKK/”blackface” yearbook photo.
• “Friday evening, it came out that Ralph indeed was, he said, in the picture. At that point, for me morally the only right thing – and it was hard, I called Ralph on Friday night, was one of the hardest things I had to do…but once that picture with the ‘blackface’ and the Klansman came out, there is no way you can continue to be the governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
• “It’s heartbreaking, it’s been one of the worst 48 hours.”
• “Well first he said it was [him in the photo] Friday night, and if it wasn’t him in the photo, he should have said that on Friday. I have no idea what was going on in the governor’s office on Friday. If you’re not…instinctively, you know if you put black paint on your face, you know if you put a hood on. And so if it isn’t you, you come out immediately and say ‘this is not me,’ so I can’t understand what’s going on.”
• “Ralph is a good, moral, decent man…Ralph will do the right thing for the Commonwealth of Virginia, he will put Virginia first and I think that will happen relatively soon.”
• “We have to move on, you have to be the moral leader…you’ve got to work as one unit to move your Commonwealth forward, and he’s just not going to have that ability to do it. The head of the black caucus yesterday said if he doesn’t resign, they’ll move to remove him themselves…We need to put this behind us.”
• “I know Ralph very well, it will not come to [the legislature removing him from office]; if Ralph is watching this today, I know how much he loves this Commonwealth of Virginia, and you’ve got to make…the right moral decision.”
• “It’s not about Ralph anymore, this is about who we are as Virginians and how we move forward…I know in my heart he’s going to do the right thing.”
• Asked about Northam smiling and contemplating demonstrating his “moonwalk” abilities at the press conference yesterday, McAuliffe said he “winced when I saw that yesterday.”
• “Justin Fairfax, African-American Lt. Governor, will do a great job of bringing folks back together.”
• Northam will be remembered that he “chose the right moral course for Virginia and he resigned and we moved forward.”
• “I’m heartbroken…that photo that was in that yearbook was so offensive to the African-American community that I can’t be in their shoes, we just have to get past this.”
• On the third-trimester abortion controversy and Northam’s comments on WTOP the other day, McAuliffe said he “absolutely” does not support Del. Kathy Tran’s bill. He claims that “Ralph misstoke on that,” says “no Democrat I know is for infanticide,” falsely claims that Northam opposes Del. Tran’s legislation (in fact, Northam and his spokesperson made clear numerous times that they support Tran’s legislation, including retweeting Tran’s video saying, “Over the last few days, you may have heard a lot of misinformation about my bill to help women make their own healthcare decisions in consultation with their doctors. Here are the facts, straight from me.”)
• Finally, McAuliffe reiterated that he will make a decision whether or not he’s running for president by March 31.