Stephen Colbert Goes Off on Blackface Scandals: ‘Dammit, Virginia! What Is Wrong With You?’

Things just keep getting worse for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

First, there was Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook page, which appeared to show the Democratic governor wearing either blackface or a Ku Klux Klan robe. “Apparently, Governor Northam saw the movie BlacKkKlansman and thought, ‘Hey, that’s two good costumes,’” Stephen Colbert joked Wednesday night.

Then came the sexual-assault allegation against his Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax. But that wasn’t all.

If Fairfax can’t replace Northam, then the Late Show host explained the governorship would “fall to Virginia attorney general and man in prostate drug commercial who’s been peeing a lot less, Mark Herring.” He then added, “Or it might not end up being him, because today Herring said he wore blackface at a college party in 1980.”

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“Dammit, Virginia!” Colbert exclaimed. “What is wrong with you? Can’t you just throw normal parties? If you must have a theme, how about, ‘Respect for the historical struggle of oppressed minorities?’ Dress code: your face.”

Herring came out with a preemptive statement on Wednesday, apologizing for his “poor judgment” and revealing that when he was 19 years old he and his friends donned “brown makeup” to a party and performed a song by rapper Kurtis Blow. “It sounds ridiculous now even writing it,” he wrote.

“Yes, it does,” Colbert replied. “And for doing it, you may lose your job. Too bad. You may claim that’s not fair, but in the words of your favorite rapper: ‘These are the breaks!’”

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