Trump criticises Virginia governor's 'unforgivable' racist yearbook photo U-turn

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President Donald Trump has weighed in on the controversy surrounding Virginia governor Ralph Northam and a racist photo from the Democrat’s 1984 medical school yearbook.

The president said the 59-year-old’s conduct was “unforgivable”, fuelling demands for Mr Northam to resign over the image – which shows a man in blackface next to another in a Ku Klux Klan outfit.

His remarks came shortly after Mr Northam, who had previously acknowledged he was in the image, rowed back on the admission by telling a press conference he no longer believed he appeared in the picture.

He said, rather, he wore shoe polish on his face to impersonate Michael Jackson for a dance contest that same year.

Mr Trump condemned Mr Northam’s U-turn on Twitter, writing: “Democrat Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia just stated, ‘I believe that I am not either of the people in that photo.’

“This was 24 hours after apologising for appearing in the picture…Unforgivable!”

He also appeared to criticise Mr Northam’s 2017 Republican challenger, Ed Gillespie, by saying he should have found the photo and used it against his opponent in the race.

“Ed Gillespie, who ran for governor of the great state of Virginia against Ralph Northam, must now be thinking malpractice and dereliction of duty with regard to his opposition research staff,” he posted. “If they find that terrible picture before the election, he wins by 20 points!”

Calls for Mr Northam to resign have increased since the photo first emerged and, crucially, come from both sides of the political divide.

Among those demanding he step down are activists within the Virginia party itself, several 2020 Democrat presidential candidates and former vice-president Joe Biden.

But some have accused Mr Trump of hypocrisy over the remarks, given his history of backpeddling during his time in the White House. Last week, the president said he was “in agreement” with the US intelligence services, despite branding them “naive” just days earlier.

Other topics he has flip-flopped on include withdrawing troops from Syria and calling China a currency manipulator.