In the latest attempt to rehabilitate Virginia’s scandal-plagued Democratic Governor Ralph Northam, on Wednesday, MSNBC actually turned to the liberal politician to lecture on race relations. Just last year, Northam was embroiled in controversy after a yearbook photo surfaced of him and a classmate respectively dressed in blackface and a Klu Klux Klan outfit.
“Meanwhile, in Virginia, the governor there, Ralph Northam, just announced a new push to make June 19th, Juneteenth, a paid state holiday....For the governor of Virginia, it’s also part of a larger racial justice agenda he’s pursuing after his own troubled past on race was thrust into the spotlight,” anchor Craig Melvin announced during the 11:00 a.m. ET hour.
Correspondent Geoff Bennett observed: “This national reckoning over racial issues is resonating differently in Virginia. Virginia, as you well know, is the cradle of American slavery.” He then touted his sit-down with Northam: “So one of the things that Governor Northam told me in our exclusive, wide ranging sit-down earlier today was that he views these Confederate statues as symbols of divisiveness.”
Bennett did acknowledge the scandal swirling around Northam: “That is a fairly remarkable statement for any Southern governor to make, especially one who just a year and a half ago withstood immense pressure to step down after that racist photo on his med school yearbook page emerged, showing one man dressed in black face, another in a Ku Klux Klan robe.”
However, the reporter emphasized that Northam “still contends he’s not one of the two people in the photo” and that “when he withstood that pressure to resign, he said he would focus the rest of his term on pursuing a racial justice agenda.”
A clip played of the interview in which Bennett invited Northam to lecture others about matters of race:
BENNETT: What role do you think white people have to play in pursuing racial justice?
GOV. RALPH NORTHAM [D-VA]: I think white people need to listen. I think they have recognized or are recognizing the pain that exists because of the protests. I think they also realized the burden of educating, of making people aware in this country of our 400 years of history. That burden needs to shift from people of color to people that look like me. Certainly as a leader, as the governor of Virginia, I have listened to a lot of people. I've learned a lot. The more I know, the more I can do. As a leader, as an educator, I think this is a great opportunity.
Following the clip, Bennett highlighted: “One of the things the governor is trying to do now is meet that talk with action. He said one of the things he learned in his conversations with people after the blackface scandal is that he sort of acknowledged and fully realized that racism is systemic.”
The journalist marveled over the left-wing agenda being pushed by the Virginia Democrat:
He says that, because that is the case, it’s incumbent upon him to create a system to dismantle it. So far he has either announced or signed into law at least by my count, some 50 racial equity policies. That includes restoring civil rights for people convicted of felonies, to trying to address the disparity that exists between black and white women when they are pregnant, a whole host of things, Craig. Also including expanding voting rights. He’s signing another one into law just today, Craig.
Melvin wrapped up the segment by noting that Bennett’s full exclusive exchange with Northam would air on Wednesday’s NBC Nightly News.
Since the blackface scandal broke in early 2019, the liberal media have been working to downplay it and rehab the Democrat:
NBC Analysts Try to Blame Trump for Northam Blackface Scandal
CBS’s Save Northam Effort: We Must Understand the ‘Context’; ‘He Wants to Make This Right’
Off a Cliff: Democratic Virginia Scandals Evaporate from ABC, CBS, NBC
CBS, NBC Drop Partisan ID as Latest Racial Gaffe Engulfs Virginia Democrats
Thanks to News Analysis Intern Adam Burnett for providing a transcript of the June 17 segment:
11:20 AM ET
CRAIG MELVIN: Meanwhile, in Virginia, the governor there, Ralph Northam, just announced a new push to make June 19th, Juneteenth, a paid state holiday. It follows his call to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee in the state’s capital of Richmond. It comes as more and more local governments and institutions are reconciling with their legacy on race. For the governor of Virginia, it’s also part of a larger racial justice agenda he’s pursuing after his own troubled past on race was thrust into the spotlight. My colleague Geoff Bennett sat down with the governor to talk about his past and how that past is really shaping how he’s trying to move the state forward. Geoff joins me now. What’s the governor saying about his past and about the moment that we find ourselves in now?
GEOFF BENNETT: Craig, great to see you as always. I’ll tell you what. This national reckoning over racial issues is resonating differently in Virginia. Virginia, as you well know, is the cradle of American slavery. This building where I’m standing, the Virginia capitol building was once the capital of the Confederacy. Virginia has more monuments and statues to Confederate leaders than any other state in the nation.
So one of the things that Governor Northam told me in our exclusive, wide ranging sit-down earlier today was that he views these Confederate statues as symbols of divisiveness. He says that they were intentionally erected as symbols of white supremacy, and that he says he intends to use as much intention aimed at removing them. That is a fairly remarkable statement for any Southern governor to make, especially one who just a year and a half ago withstood immense pressure to step down after that racist photo on his med school yearbook page emerged, showing one man dressed in black face, another in a Ku Klux Klan robe. Governor Northam at the time said that he was not in the photo, I asked him about that today, he still contends he’s not one of the two people in the photo.
But when he withstood that pressure to resign, he said he would focus the rest of his term on pursuing a racial justice agenda. A number of his supporters and detractors have been really surprised that he has done just that. One of the things that happens when we have these conversations about race and racial justice is it falls on black people to explain racism, to educate. What that does is it sort of perpetuates this narrative that racism is a black problem when frankly it’s an American problem. I asked the governor, what he thinks white people can and should do to pursue racial justice. Here is what he told me.
BENNETT: What role do you think white people have to play in pursuing racial justice?
GOV. RALPH NORTHAM [D-VA]: I think white people need to listen. I think they have recognized or are recognizing the pain that exists because of the protests. I think they also realized the burden of educating, of making people aware in this country of our 400 years of history. That burden needs to shift from people of color to people that look like me. Certainly as a leader, as the governor of Virginia, I have listened to a lot of people. I've learned a lot. The more I know, the more I can do. As a leader, as an educator, I think this is a great opportunity.
BENNETT: One of the things the governor is trying to do now is meet that talk with action. He said one of the things he learned in his conversations with people after the blackface scandal is that he sort of acknowledged and fully realized that racism is systemic. That's what he told me. He says that, because that is the case, it’s incumbent upon him to create a system to dismantle it. So far he has either announced or signed into law at least by my count, some 50 racial equity policies. That includes restoring civil rights for people convicted of felonies, to trying to address the disparity that exists between black and white women when they are pregnant, a whole host of things, Craig. Also including expanding voting rights. He’s signing another one into law just today, Craig.
