Despite muddled moonwalk defense and calls to resign, Gov. Ralph Northam could keep his job

A muddled defense that included moonwalking and a blackface Michael Jackson costume may be enough for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to keep his job despite widespread calls for his resignation over a racially insensitive photo in his 1984 medical school yearbook. 

Virginia’s Constitution says elected officials who commit “malfeasance in office, corruption, neglect of duty or other high crime or misdemeanor” may be removed from office. Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, told USA TODAY "nothing that has happened so far is grounds for removal" under the state's provisions for impeachment.

"There is nothing in his service as governor that satisfies those terms," Tobias said.

On Friday the governor apologized for being in the yearbook photo, which depicted one person in blackface and another wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe. But on Saturday he reversed direction, saying he doesn't believe he is in the photo and calling it "disgusting, offensive, racist."

Northam did admit to blackening his face with shoe polish for a Michael Jackson costume at a dance contest in the 1980s. And at one surreal point in his news conference Saturday he seemed to weigh showing off his moonwalking skills. His wife shut that down.

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Northam said looking back on his earlier days, he regretted "that I did not understand the harmful legacy of an action like that." The governor, elected in 2017, said he is determined to complete his term. 

Tobias said the rules for ousting a governor were built around behavior while in office, not events from 35 years in the past. But if the state's House of Delegates did decide to impeach Northam, he would be tried in the Senate. Two-thirds of senators would have to agree for Northam to be removed.

"He may think he can survive," Tobias said. "It is unlikely that the (state) Senate would convict. But most people don't think it would get that far."

The resignation drumbeat grew louder Sunday. Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, like Northam a Democrat, and Rep. Donald McEachin, a Virginia Democrat and member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said Northam must go.

"It doesn't matter whether he was in the photo or not in the photo at this point," McAuliffe said on CNN's "State of the Union." "We have to close that chapter. It is heartbreaking, but Virginia has to move forward."

McAuliffe said Northam never displayed any racist sentiment while serving as his lieutenant governor. McEachin said he considered Northam a friend but added that the governor has lost the "authority" to lead.

"You know, we're certainly grateful for the contributions he's made to the betterment of Virginia," McEachin said on ABC's "Meet the Press." "But the question now is, is can you lead? Can you help us heal? And given the actions that he's demonstrated over the past 48 hours, the answer is clearly no."

The answer is not so clear to everyone on the state's Eastern Shore, where Northam grew up. The Rev. Kelvin Jones is pastor at First Baptist Church Capeville, about 40 miles south of Northam's hometown of Onancock. 

"I think he has the right to prove himself," Jones said. "I think that he has the right to serve until he feels he’s no longer capable of doing the job."

Last month, Northam went home to Accomack County to have his memories of African-American blacksmith Samuel Outlaw recorded for a documentary. Northam said Outlaw used to fix tools, tractors, bicycles and other items his family brought into the blacksmith shop.

"Growing up, the way we were raised, my brother and I, we didn't see color – and I don't think he saw color either," Northam said. "He just treated everybody as human beings. I think that's a lesson that everybody needs to hear."

Northam is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute in 1981 and the Eastern Virginia Medical School in 1984. He served in the state Senate from 2008-2013 and as lieutenant governor from 2014 to 2017 before succeeding McAuliffe as governor.

If Northam exits, Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, would become the state's second African-American governor. Doug Wilder was the first – elected six years after the photo was published.

Virginia's Democratic senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, have called for Northam to resign. Virginia's Legislative Black Caucus issued a statement expressing "deep sense of betrayal, pain and disappointment."

The Northam controversy comes a week after the Republican-led Virginia Senate honored Robert E. Lee “as a great Virginian and a great American,” continuing a decades-long tradition. Some protested the move because of Lee's ownership of slaves and leadership of the Confederate army.

In Charlottesville, where efforts to remove a statue of Lee from a park led to protests and a court battle, boutique operator Racquel White, 42, said resigning would be the "right thing" for Northam.

“As a black person, I do feel disappointed in him,” she said. "I'm said and disappointed."

President Trump referenced the Northam controversy on Twitter: "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. If they find that terrible picture before the election, he wins by 20 points!"

Contributing: Neill Borowski, USA TODAY; Carol Vaughn, Salisbury (Maryland) Daily Times; The (Staunton, Virginia.) News Leader