‘Unforgivable’: Trump Calls out Northam Over Racist Photo and Late-Term Abortion Comments

President Donald Trump announces a deal to temporarily reopen the government, in the Rose Garden of the White House, Jan. 25, 2019. Evan Vucci/AP Photo

President Donald Trump called out Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam for his recent apology over a racist photo appearing in his 1984 medical school yearbook and comments on late-term abortions.

(L) President Donald Trump holds a joint news conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri in the Rose Garden at the White House Jul. 25, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(R) Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (D) attends a rally for Virginia State Senator and candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives Jennifer Wexton (D) at the Wexton campaign headquarters on Oct. 30, 2018 in Sterling, Va. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

“Democrat Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia just stated, ‘I believe that I am not either of the people in that photo,'” Trump tweeted Saturday. “This was 24 hours after apologizing for appearing in the picture and after making the most horrible statement on ‘super’ late term abortion. Unforgivable!”

Trump suggested in a separate tweet that if Northam’s picture appeared prior to the 2017 gubernatorial election, opponent Ed Gillespie, a Republican, could have had an advantage.

“Ed Gillespie, who ran for Governor of the Great State of Virginia against Ralph Northam, must now be thinking Malpractice and Dereliction of Duty with regard to his Opposition Research Staff,” Trump tweeted. “If they find that terrible picture before the election, he wins by 20 points!”

Republican candidate for Virginia governor Ed Gillespie talks to journalists after casting his vote at the polling place at Washington Mill Elementary School Nov. 7, 2017 in Alexandria, Va. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Northam apologized Friday for a picture showing one person wearing blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan costume under his section of the yearbook. He denied in a Saturday press conference, however, of being in the picture. (RELATED: Big Name Democrats Call On Northam To Resign Following Racist Yearbook Photo Controversy)

This image shows Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s page in his 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook. The page shows a picture, at right, of a person in blackface and another wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood next to different pictures of the governor. It's unclear who the people in the picture are, but the rest of the page is filled with pictures of Northam and lists his undergraduate alma mater and other information about him. Eastern Virginia Medical School via AP

The Virginia governor made comments on late-term abortion in a Wednesday interview with WTOP. Northam’s statements were regarding Virginia’s HB 2491, which would allow abortions late into the third term in certain cases.

“If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen,” Northam said in the interview. “The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam speaks with reporters at a press conference at the Governor's mansion on Feb. 2, 2019 in Richmond, Va. Alex Edelman/Getty Images

Northam defeated Gillespie in November 2017. Northam had 53.6 percent of the vote while Gillespie had 45.2 percent.

By Neetu Chandak

Follow Neetu on Twitter