With pressure continuing to mount over his racist yearbook photo, Ralph Northam is said to be considering resigning—despite the embattled Virginia governor’s insistence days ago that he will fight to hold onto his post. Northam, The Washington Post reported late Sunday, spent much of the day “in seclusion at his family home . . . as confidants delivered conflicting advice about whether he should resign or continue fighting to clear his name,” and held an “emotional” emergency meeting with staff ahead of the Super Bowl to weigh his options, including stepping down. On Monday morning, he reportedly held his regular meeting with members of his Cabinet.

That resignation now appears to be on the table for Northam is a reflection of the massive public and political pressure he’s faced since last week when a photo from his medical-school yearbook page surfaced showing one person in blackface and one person in K.K.K. garb. Northam initially acknowledged that he was one of the two people pictured and apologized, but soon backtracked. In a bizarre press conference Saturday, he denied being in the photo, but admitted that he’d donned blackface as part of a Michael Jackson costume in 1984. “In the hours since I made my statement yesterday, I reflected with my family and classmates from the time and affirmed my conclusion that I am not the person in that photo,” he said in his Richmond presser. “I want to take this opportunity to apologize to the many people who have been hurt by this episode.”

Nevertheless, he’s facing calls to step aside from both Republicans and Democrats, including 2020 hopefuls, for whom the Virginia Democrat could be a liability as the next election cycle heats up. “Leaders are called to a higher standard, and the stain of racism should have no place in the halls of government,” tweeted Kamala Harris, one of the top Democrats seeking to challenge Donald Trump next year. “The Governor of Virginia should step aside so the public can heal and move forward together.” Others pointed out that Northam will no longer be able to govern effectively, given the outrage and extreme lack of confidence. “He’s lost the authority to lead,” Democratic Rep. A. Donald McEachin, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus from Virginia, told Meet the Press on Sunday. “He’s lost the authority to govern. He has to resign.”

If Northam steps down, he would become the second high-profile politician in recent weeks to be forced to resign in a scandal over a racist photograph. Michael Ertel, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s secretary of state, resigned late last month after a 2005 photo surfaced of him dressed in blackface as a victim of Hurricane Katrina.

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