Terry McAuliffe Talks About His Book When Asked About Ralph Northam

EXCERPT:

BRENNAN: "Certainly your state of Virginia continues to deal with racism. The -- Governor Northam, who we heard from last week, has refused to resign, despite near universal calls among elected Democrats to do so. Can he survive?"
MCAULIFFE: "Yes. I think he's made a decision he's going to stay in, but the way that Ralph survives and brings Virginia back together, he's got to lean in on these very important issues, which I talk about in the book. He's got to use executive authority as governor. You know I used executive authority. I took the Confederate flag off the Virginia license plates. I banned the box on any state employment forms. And, as you know, I restored the felon rights of hundred and seventy-three individuals, more than any governor in U.S. history. I was sued by the Republicans. We ultimately won. And the reason I was so adamant about doing that was because of Virginia's racial history. It goes back to the Jim Crow laws. In 1902 a state senator disenfranchised felons, a poll tax and a literacy test to put it in our constitution. And his quote that day is, "I am doing this to eliminate the darkie from being a political factor in Virginia." Well, a hundred and fourteen years later, there was new sheriff in town. And I was able to enfranchise all these people to give them a second chance. And this is what our leadership in Virginia needs to do. We need to lean in. We've had a horrible history. You look at Charlottesville, Margaret, I can't even say to you on TV what I heard that day against members of the African-American community and members of the Jewish faith. These people walking down the streets, you know, they used to wear hoods. They used to do it at night because they were embarrassed. They don't feel they have to wear hoods anymore. And they can do it in broad daylight. Something has gone wrong in our country. And I talk in the book about how we got to bring our country back together again.”