From being exposed as radical abortion extremists to having their racist pasts revealed to having to deal with a credible sexual assault allegation, Virginia Democrats have had a very bad couple of weeks in an epic implosion.
On Jan. 28, Democrat Del. Kathy Tran testified about her bill that makes it easier to obtain a late-term abortion. When she was asked if her bill would allow a woman who is dilating to have an abortion, she replied, “My bill would allow that. Yes.”
This legislation has been cosponsored by 21 other Democrats as well. Asked if similar legislation would be advanced if Democrats win control of the House of Delegates, Democrat House Minority Leader Eileen Filler-Corn, responded, “There’s a lot of support for this type of legislation.” While this bill might be popular with Democrat legislators, many people from across the country, including some who support abortion, strongly denounced the bill.
In a radio interview on Jan. 30, Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam defended Tran’s abominable bill and appeared, to some, to go even further by supporting infanticide. In a WTOP radio interview, when asked explicitly if an abortion could be performed as a mother was entering labor, Northam went further and said the baby could be delivered and still killed, “When we talk about third-trimester abortions, these are done with the consent of obviously the mother, with the consent of the physicians, more than one physician, by the way. And it’s done in cases where there may be severe deformities, there may be a fetus that’s non-viable. So in this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother. So I think this was really blown out of proportion.”
Unsurprisingly, many were disturbed by his comments. When given a chance at his press conference last Thursday to make it clear that he opposes infanticide, he did not, instead, he stated defiantly on Jan. 31 that he did not have any regrets.
The following day, on Feb. 1, the first day of Black History Month, the American people learned about Northam’s medical school yearbook photo, which showed an individual in blackface and another dressed as a member of the Ku Klux Klan. That night, Northam, who had portrayed conservatives as murderous racists during his gubernatorial campaign, released a video in which he apologized for appearing in the photo, “I am deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now…”
On Feb. 2, the media reported that another of Northam’s college yearbook had listed one of his nicknames as “Coonman.” That afternoon, Northam held a disastrous press conference. Among other things, he stated that he no longer believed that he was in the racist yearbook photo, but he admitted to wearing blackface on another occasion. He also denied knowing why he had been called “Coonman” in college.
Northam’s past may help explain his snubbing of black candidates from both parties. In 2013, at end of their lieutenant gubernatorial debate, Republican E.W. Jackson extended his hand to shake hands with Northam but got no response. Even when Jackson tapped him on the arm, Northam continued to ignore him. Four years later, Northam’s campaign intentionally omitted his black running mate, Justin Fairfax, from a flyer but still included the white candidate for attorney general.
Virginia Democrats’ problems, however, extend beyond abortion and Northam’s past. On Feb. 3, a news website reported that a California professor alleged that she had been sexually assaulted at the 2004 Democrat National Convention and that the alleged perpetrator was on the verge of a “very big promotion.” Democrat Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax quickly released a statement denying the allegation and threatening to sue “those attempting to spread this defamatory and false allegation.” Fairfax’s cause was not helped when it was reported that he had profanely lashed out at his accuser in a meeting with his staff on Monday night. On Feb. 6, the accuser released a detailed statement describing the assault and revealing that she had begun telling friends about the assault in 2017.
As if all of that were not enough, Democrat Attorney General Mark Herring, who has called for Northam’s resignation, admitted that he also wore blackface at a Halloween party as a young man.
In the last two weeks, the nation has seen how morally bankrupt the Democrat Party of Virginia has become. That is why, when they go to the polls for state and local elections this November, voters may very well punish Democrats’ appalling actions by routing them.
Richard McCarty is the Director of Research at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
