Report: Gov. Northam held 'urgent' meeting with senior staff Sunday evening

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - Virginia Governor Ralph Northam reportedly held "an urgent" meeting with top staff Sunday evening, The Washington Post reports.

This comes over mounting pressure to resign after a racist photo surfaced on Friday from his 1984 medical school yearbook page of someone in blackface and another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe.

The Post reports those familiar with the meeting said senior staffers of color were involved in the meeting. However, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who would become governor if Northam resigned, was not there.

The people familiar with the meeting said the governor had not reached a final decision about his fate as the discussion began. They said the meeting is reportedly continuing into Sunday night.

On Friday, Northam apologized for appearing in the photograph on his yearbook page. He did not say which costume he was wearing, but said he was "deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo."

By Saturday, though, the governor reversed course and said the picture "is definitely not me."

While talking with reporters, Northam admitted he once used shoe polish to put on blackface as part of a Michael Jackson costume for a 1984 dance contest in Texas, when he was in the Army. Northam said he regrets that he didn't understand "the harmful legacy of an action like that."

Asked by a reporter if he could still do Jackson's famous moonwalk, Northam looked at the floor as if thinking about demonstrating it. His wife put a stop to it, telling him, "Inappropriate circumstances."

His shifting explanations did little or nothing to sway prominent Democrats who had swiftly disowned him.

Both of Virginia's U.S. senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, joined the dean of Virginia's congressional delegation, Rep. Bobby Scott, in saying they no longer believe Northam can serve effectively. James Ryan, president of the University of Virginia, said in a statement that it would be "exceedingly difficult" for Northam to continue serving.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.