Virginia's first black governor slams McAuliffe for standing with Northam after blackface scandal

Former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder on Wednesday repudiated fellow Democrat and former governor of Virginia Terry McAuliffe for standing with Gov. Ralph Northam, who was discovered to have worn blackface while he was a college student.

Wilder became America's first black governor when he was elected to the Virginia post in 1988. Wilder criticized McAuliffe for campaigning with the current Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring.

Both Herring and Northam admitted in 2019 to wearing blackface while in college. At the time, McAuliffe had called on the pair to resign. McAuliffe, who on Tuesday won Virginia's Democratic gubernatorial nomination to run for a second term, said he was "honored" to have Northam's endorsement for governor while they were campaigning together in June.

"The people of Virginia have not forgotten. They are not stupid. They are not fooled, they are not being hoodwinked," Wilder said. during a radio interview on Friday, according to Fox News. "Terry … you said [Northam] was in blackface. He's got to go. Have you changed your mind about any of this? And if not, then why not? Now, explain to the people of the commonwealth."

Wilder on Tuesday posted on Facebook to further rebuke McAuliffe, Northam, and Herring over the blackface scandal.

"Is what Northam and Herring did … alright by any standard?" Wilder wrote. "Or does this suggest that if you're a Black person in Virginia, if you've got to think about who you are going to vote for then 'you ain't Black?'"