Former Democratic Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum said Monday that he believes Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) should resign, adding that he must put forward a substantive plan for the future if he intends to remain in office.

Gillum, the former Tallahassee mayor who is now a CNN contributor, said on the network's "New Day" that Northam's first television interview since the controversy over a racist yearbook photo and an admission he wore blackface broke did not provide a clear indication of what he was atoning for, nor his path forward to lead the state.

ADVERTISEMENT

"I am a little bit conflicted in this whole situation in the sense that I went around the state for two years in Florida saying that people shouldn’t be judged forever by their worst day," Gillum said. "That all of us ought to have the opportunity to reconcile and get our act together."

"I feel that the governor is best suited to do that as a private citizen, but if he’s vowing to stay in the office of governor, we’re going to have to hear something better than what we heard in this interview over the weekend," he added.

.@AndrewGillum has called for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s resignation but says he is “conflicted” by the situation: “People shouldn’t be judged forever by their worst day” https://t.co/QJ5XjVc9Uu pic.twitter.com/PEG9Axjw4G — New Day (@NewDay) February 11, 2019

Gillum said he's called for Northam's resignation because he feels the governor can't lead with "the full confidence of the people that he's elected to serve."

Northam earlier this month came under fire after his medical school yearbook page showed a photo of an individual in blackface and an individual wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe. He initially apologized for being in the photo, but has since insisted he was not in the image.

Northam has acknowledged he wore blackface as part of a Michael Jackson costume. He has resisted calls to resign, and in his first televised interview, said he's "not going anywhere" and believes he can be the person to heal the commonwealth.

Since the Northam controversy started, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) has been accused of sexual assault by two women, and Attorney General Mark Herring (D) also admitted he wore blackface for a college party.