Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano said Tuesday that Democrats want Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) to resign so they can continued to "tarnish" President Trump Donald John TrumpBubba Wallace to be driver of Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin NASCAR team Graham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Southwest Airlines, unions call for six-month extension of government aid MORE as a "racist."

“Why do they want him out? They want to be able to tarnish Donald Trump as a racist. Because of the comments he made after the Charlottesville, Va., murder and racial clash took place," Napolitano said on "Fox & Friends," referring to the 2017 white nationalist rally that turned deadly after a man rammed a car through a crowd of counterprotesters.

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Trump faced significant pushback at the time after saying "many sides" were responsible for the Charlottesville violence.

Napolitano added that Democrats likely think they'd "lose standing" to criticize Trump if Northam stays on as governor.

Fox analyst: Dems want Northam out so they can continue to "tarnish Donald Trump as a racist" pic.twitter.com/sLVlezqsp8 — TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) February 5, 2019

His comments come days after a photo surfaced showing a man wearing blackface standing next to another dressed in a Ku Klux Klan robe on Northam's 1984 medical school yearbook page.

Northam apologized for the photo last week, but on Saturday denied that he was in the picture in question.

"When I was confronted with the images yesterday, I was appalled that they appeared on my page, but I believed then and now that I am not either of the people in that photo," he said in a press conference.

Northam has faced growing calls from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers to resign over the photo. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said Monday that Northam's "moral authority has collapsed" and that his ability to govern is "nonexistent."

Northam has so far refused to step down. He said in a Cabinet meeting on Monday that if he resigned he would be leaving office as a "racist for life," according to CNN.