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 described Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) as "choking like a dog" for his performance at a press conference on Saturday, according to a report in The New York Times.

“Did you see that news conference?” Trump told television anchors at the White House who were invited to speak to the president ahead of Tuesday night's State of the Union address. “Could you believe it? He choked like a dog.”

Trump also insulted a number of other Democrats during the session with reporters, according to the Times.

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Northam appeared at the press conference to address the controversy surrounding his page in a 1984 medical school yearbook. The photo showed one person in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe.

The Virginia governor has faced calls to resign since the photo surfaced, but has refused to bow to the pressure so far.

Northam initially confirmed that he was one of the two people in the photograph, before reversing himself on Saturday.

Most observers saw Saturday's press conference as a disaster in damage control. Northam at one point discussed having worn blackface to impersonate Michael Jackson for a dance contest.

At one point, a reporter asked Northam if he could still do the moonwalk. The governor appeared to consider demonstrating his dance moves, before his wife said it would be inappropriate circumstances.

The White House did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment on the excerpts in the Times's story.