National Black Farmers Association President on Meeting With Northam: He Was Sincere, I Believe in Redemption

On Friday, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam––who’s still resisting calls for him to resign––tweeted about meeting with the founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association, John Boyd Jr.

John, I enjoyed hearing from you today. Thank you for your great work on behalf of Black farmers. https://t.co/xShKsVHLq0

— Ralph Northam (@GovernorVA) February 8, 2019

Boyd appeared on CNN this morning to defend Northam and he told Victor Blackwell that they prayed together.

“The governor was very, very sincere,” Boyd said. “I believe in the power of redemption and forgiveness. Let he who cast the first stone be without sin. That’s nobody. So nobody is perfect. I believe that the governor wants to govern Virginia in the right direction, and he reached out to me, Victor, during the government shutdown. And I can say that other people didn’t reach out to me to see how he could help African-American farmers and the state of Virginia.”

Blackwell asked him if the decision to stand behind Northam is “primarily about keeping… the governor’s office in Democratic hands.”

“People need to start working together,” Boyd said. “In this country, Victor, we’re so politically divided. Here we have the president of the United States who says he’s a nationalist. So I think there’s a big difference between the governor of Virginia and President Trump, or a modern-day racist like Steve King who manages to keep his job. There was no outrage for Steve king to step down or where’s the impeachment articles from Congress to impeach this president that says something racist every single day.”

You can watch above, via CNN.

[image via screengrab]