Video: On MSNBC, Ralph Northam Says Dems Should Have Talked More About “Our Accomplishments” in 2021 Campaign, That Youngkin Campaign “was out there provoking fear and anger in people”

Click here or on the image below for former Gov. Ralph Northam’s interview this morning with Jonathan Capehart on MSNBC. According to Northam:

• “I really don’t think we talked about what we’ve done as Democrats enough over the last four years. The election was nationalized, it was a lot of emphasis on the previous president, and I think we should have done a better job  talking about our accomplishments.”
• “Critical Race Theory is nothing more than a dog whistle. We don’t teach Critical Race Theory, it’s not a part of our curriculum in K-12 schools.” Unfortunately, “anger and fear are very strong emotions,” and Youngkin’s “campaign was a lot based on that, was out there provoking fear and anger in people, and they responded to it, and the rest is history. But that’s not a good direction for Virginia to go in, it’s not a good direction for this country to go in. I think we have to start with the facts. We may be able to disagree, but let’s at least deal with facts and then go from there. But Critical Race Theory is a dog whistle and it’s not being taught in our schools.”
• On the “blackface scandal,” he said “I can tell you that I’m a better person, I certainly understand racial issues much better than I did prior to that episode, and I really think Virginia – more importantly – is a better Commonwealth…more open, more inclusive…As I like to remind people, our society is becoming more diverse every day, and that’s a good thing…Virginia needs to embrace that diversity if we’re going to be able to move forward...it’s also good for business…”
• “A lot of people that look like me…they think that the oppression ended when slavery ended, but it didn’t. We then had Jim Crow… ‘Massive Resistance’…and then mass incarceration…and then the police brutality that we saw in Minneapolis…The point I would make is Black oppression exists today, it is alive and well here as we speak in 2022, just in a different form, and it is very important for people like me that are comfortable to talk about that – the burden has always been on people of color to talk about that history – and I think we’re all in this together, and I think people that look like me need to do a better job of that.”