Video: On MTP, Rep. Donald McEachin (D-VA04) Says Wearing “Blackface” in 1984 Was “Not Common,” and “Ralph Should Have Known Better”

Rep. Donald McEachin (D-VA04) this morning on Meet the Press had the following to say:

• Asked by Chuck Todd whether there’s anything Ralph Northam can do that could “somehow convince you to give him more time in office,” Rep. McEachin answered point blank “no.” Rep. McEachin continued, “He’s lost the authority to lead, he’s lost the authority to govern, he has to resign; it’s in the best interest of the Commonwealth…of the party.”
• Rep. McEachin said Northam was “apologetic” when they spoke on Friday, “so I was really surprised when the next day he comes out and says it’s not him; that was quite a surprise to me.”
• On Northam’s claiming that putting shoe polish on one’s face (aka, “blackface”) in 1984 was commonplace, Rep. McEachin said he couldn’t accept Northam’s explanation, that “to the best of my knowledge [wearing blackface] was not commonplace in 1984…and Ralph should have known better.”
• On whether Northam’s public record being on the “right side of these issues” should count in determining his future, Rep. McEachin said: “We’re certainly grateful for the contributions he’s made for the benefit of Virginia, but the question now is ‘can you lead, can you help us heal?’ And given the actions he’s demonstrated over the past 48 hours, the answer’s clearly no. It can’t be you in the photograph one day, and then it’s not the next day. You can’t excuse it all and say I know I didn’t do blackface in this yearbook because I did it in a Michael Jackson dance contest. And by the way…his notion that you can’t get polish off your face easily suggests to me that that was not the first time that he had tried blackface.”
• Asked whether it would be “poetic justice” if the descendant of slaves becomes governor after this incident, Rep. McEachin “it is a wonderful story that Justin has and he has been a fantastic Lt. Governor…public servant…and should he ascend to the governorship he will be a fantastic governor…I want America to remember that this is the 400th anniversary of Africans coming to the the shores of Jamestown in chains.. So the look of that commemoration service combined with a governor that’s been talking about blackface and misleading us about blackface is not the look Virginia wants to the nation.”