Virginia GOP offers reward for blackface pic of state AG Mark Herring
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Republican Party of Virginia is offering a $1,000 reward for a photo of state Attorney General Mark Herring in blackface.
In a press release obtained by Fox News on Tuesday, the local GOP group said there "has been much talk of a picture of Mark Herring in blackface existing in a [University of Virginia] Sigma Chi fraternity yearbook from his time there."
VIRGINIA AG MARK HERRING ADMITS WEARING BLACKFACE AT 1980 COLLEGE PARTY
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Herring, a Democrat, said in early February that in 1980, he wore brown makeup and a wig while at a party at the university.
"In 1980, when I was a 19-year-old undergraduate in college, some friends suggested we attend a party dressed like rappers we listened to at the time, like Kurtis Blow, and perform a song,” Herring said. “It sounds ridiculous even now writing it. But because of our ignorance and glib attitudes — and because we did not have an appreciation for the experiences and perspectives of others — we dressed up and put on wigs and brown makeup.”
The organization's leadership said that Herring released the statement to "get ahead of his own blackface scandal" and questioned whether the photo existed or not.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Does anyone really believe him? The Republican Party of Virginia is seeking further evidence of Mark Herring's blackface and the witnesses to his racist past," the press release stated.
The group is offering $1,000 "for either a verified copy of a picture of Mark Herring in blackface or verifiable contact information for Herring's Sigma Chi fraternity brothers from Herring's time as an undergraduate that ultimately leads to a verified picture of Mark Herring in blackface."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The reward will be available to the first person who's able to provide a verifiable picture, the group noted.
Herring last month said he dressed in blackface once, and would accept "full responsibility for my conduct." While he resigned as co-chairman of the Democratic Attorneys General Association, he didn't resign as Virginia's attorney general.
His admission came as Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, both Democrats, were embroiled in their own controversies.
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Herring called on Northam to resign after a pic of someone in blackface and another in a KKK costume was discovered in Northam's 1984 medical school yearbook.
Fairfax, next in line to be a governor, has been accused of sexual misconduct, which he has denied.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Herring would be next in line to be governor after Northam and Fairfax.
Fox News Alex Pappas' contributed to this report.