Fox News anchor Bret Baier‘s panel condemned Virginia Governor Ralph Northam for a newly unearthed photo from his yearbook show him and another person in blackface and a KKK robe. Baier argued coverage of the controversy would play out differently if Northam were a Republican.

“It’s never a good day when… the Washington D.C. community and your state are trying to figure out if you’re the one in blackface or the one under the Klan hood,” said Washington Free Beacon‘s Matthew Continetti. He also pointed out that Northam started his week with controversial comments on late term abortion. “This is a political career in death spiral.”

Leslie Marshall, a Democratic strategist, called the photo “highly offensive” and said the zero tolerance policy for racism should be “across the board,” with regards to other politicians like Republican Rep. Steve King.

“Would Republicans being saying the same thing if he had an R next to his name instead of a D?” she asked. “I certainly hope so.”

“All I know is that the coverage of this would be a lot different if it were a different prism,” said Baier. “If it were in a Republican governor I think it might be leading a lot of the newscasts it’s not leading currently.”

CNN’s 6 p.m. show, The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, led with developments in the Roger Stone case, before holding a panel on the racist Northam photo some thirty minutes into the broadcast. MSNBC’s Ari Melber mentioned the Northam story in his show opener, before covering the Stone news. Melber later covered the Northam story with a panel.

“We should just be forthright here: he should resign,” said Fox News analyst Morgan Ortagus. She added that Justin Fairfax, the lieutenant governor of Virginia and an African-American, could “gracefully take over right away.”

Watch above, via Fox News.

[image via screengrab]

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