The accusations swirling against Virginia's governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, all Democrats, deserve to be investigated before Americans jump to conclusions, House Majority Whip James Clyburn told Fox News on Wednesday.
“We ought to let due process take its course, and then we ought to then act once that is done. Take all the allegations seriously,” Clyburn, D-S.C., said on “Your World with Neil Cavuto.” “Investigate them and then make a decision afterwards. I will not get out in front of this and speculate on what should or should not be the case going forward.”
Late last week, a controversial photo surfaced in a 1984 yearbook entry for Gov. Ralph Northam, showing a person in blackface next to someone wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood. Northam initially said he was in the photo and apologized, but over the weekend denied he was in the picture and refused to step down. He also revealed he'd worn blackface on another occasion while dressed as Michael Jackson.
Top lawmakers from both parties have urged Northam to resign.
On Sunday, sexual-assault allegations surfaced against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax. The accuser, a college professor, released a statement Wednesday detailing the alleged 2004 incident.
“What began as consensual kissing quickly turned into a sexual assault,” Vanessa Tyson, a professor at Scripps College in California, wrote.
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Fairfax, who has denied the accusations, is next in line to become governor if Northam resigns.
Complicating the situation even further, state Attorney General Mark Herring on Wednesday revealed in a statement that he depicted an African-American rapper and wore blackface during a college party in 1980.
Herring apologized and said the incident had “haunted me for decades.”
Clyburn, the number-three House Democrat, doubled down on due process.
“I think the process ought to be allowed to work,” he told Neil Cavuto.
Cavuto pressed Clyburn on the possibility that all three top state officials would resign and that Republican Kirk Cox, the state's speaker of the House of Delegates, could take over as governor.
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“How would you feel about that?” Cavuto asked.
“I wouldn’t feel good about that. My goodness,” Clyburn said. “I would not feel good about the governor having to leave office but I think it is something that he should consider doing for the party’s sake and I wouldn’t feel good if Justin Fairfax were not given due process as it relates to [the allegations] regarding him.”
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