Joe Lieberman is pretty much the only Democrat backing up Ralph Northam after blackface photos

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) has approximately one public supporter.

After news sites published a page from Northam's medical school yearbook from 1984 featuring a photo of one man in blackface and another in Ku Klux Klan robes, pretty much every high-profile member of his own party told him to step down. That changed Monday morning though, as former Sen. Joe Lieberman (D) told CNN he doesn't think Northam should resign "today."

Lieberman decried the "rush to judgment that is unfair to" Northam. The governor has claimed that he wasn't in the photo, so Lieberman said Northam should be asked whether he knew "the picture was on his page." Northam should also be "judged in the context of his whole life" and be shown "mercy" until he's "proven guilty," Lieberman added.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Northam has resisted calls for his resignation since the photos were published Friday. He acknowledged that the photo is "clearly racist" and said Friday that he was in it, but now claims he wasn't in the photo after all.