We all knew it was true, but at least Democratic Virginia Rep. Don Beyer is willing to admit it.
Speaking on Face the Nation about the current scandals embroiling top-level Virginia Democratic leaders – the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, to be specific – Beyer admitted the party probably won’t oust Democratic AG Mark Herring for admitting he wore blackface back in college because…well, they don’t want to wind up with a Republican.
“If he resigns, the next in line is a Republican," CBS host Margaret Brennan began. “Cynics could look at this and say, the calculus to not be as harsh on the attorney general is influenced by that.”
“There are cynics who say this is about the next election, but I think it’s more about values.
"Yeah but I don't think that's actually true. There- there are cynics who say this is about the next election. But I think it's much more about values," Beyer countered. "We would move from a progressive, very strong attorney general to someone, who is not just a Republican, but someone who is on the arch conservative end of it. So the way our laws would be administered Virginia would be completely different. This isn't about party politics, it's the messages about the kind of Virginia that we want."
It looks like Democrats are perfectly fine with holding people accountable for acts of so-called “racism” – unless it means booting one of their own and surrendering a seat to a Republican.
In the same interview, Beyer argued that while both Herring and Northam made "dumb mistakes" in college when they both admittedly darkened their faces to imitate black men, he's cutting Herring some slack because the two men's jobs are "different."
"I think that's one of the differences between Governor Northam and Attorney General Herring. They both made dumb mistakes as young men," Beyer said. "Governor Herring though, or Lieutenant Attorney General rather, has been incredibly remorseful, very simple, took it very responsibly. The way our- my- Governor Northam handled the first couple of days was confusing, even bizarre. And he's also in a different role. The attorney general is- runs the state's largest law firm, whereas the governor really has to be the role model for more than eight million people."
Brennan, of course, declined to press Beyer on why Democrats should get a pass for their college indiscretions simply because of politics.