Va. gov state of ‘shock’

Odd explanation for photo flip-flop

He just didn’t know if he was one of those racists.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam claims he was so shocked at seeing a photo of men in blackface and a Klu Klux Klan hood on his medical-school yearbook page that he couldn’t immediately rule out being one of them.

“When you’re in a state of shock like I was, we don’t always think as clearly as we should. I will tell you that later that night, I had a chance to step back, take a deep breath, look at the picture and said, ‘This is not me in the picture,’ ” Northam (inset) told “CBS This Morning” in an interview that aired Monday.

“And I also had a number of friends and classmates from medical school that called and said, ‘Ralph, that is not you,’ and that was comforting, as well.”

Northam originally apologized for the offensive image from his 1984 yearbook when it came to light last weekend, then the next day denied he was either person in the shot, while admitting to once wearing blackface to imitate Michael Jackson at a dance contest.

CBS anchor Gayle King pressed the Democratic governor on the flip-flop, noting, “That’s a hell of an overreaction.”

“Yes, again, when I stepped back and looked at it, I just said, ‘I know it’s not me in the Klan outfit.’ And I started looking in a picture of the individual with blackface. I said, ‘ That’s not me, either,’ ” he said.

Northam said he first saw the racist picture when a report from Big League Politics, a conservative Web site, unearthed it on Feb. 1.

“How can that be? It’s on your yearbook page, Governor,” King asked.

“I really believe that the fact that if you look at the unpreparedness of me to react to this, both on Friday night and Saturday, that really confirms that this is the first time,” he replied.

King also grilled Northam on the moment during a press conference when he grinned and appeared to be poised to perform a moonwalk after copping to the offensive Jackson costume — until his wife appeared to stop him.

Northam claimed he was never actually going to pull off the move.

“No, because I don’t have those [skills] at age 59. But I would tell you, Gayle, I regret that. This is a serious moment and whether it was a nervous laugh or whatever, it was inappropriate,” he said.

He said the scandal has finally taught him just how offensive blackface is.

“I knew it in the past,” Northam said. “But reality has really set in.”