--- title: McConnell Confederate Flag Photo Resurfaces in Northam Controversy description: A photograph of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell posing in front of a Confederate flag is making the rounds on social media. canonical: https://time.com/5519534/mitch-mcconnell-confederate-flag-northam-yearbook/ author: Alejandro de la Garza article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-03T22:56:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:21:36.697Z article:section: Politics og:title: Photo of Mitch McConnell in Front of a Confederate Flag Resurfaces Amid Northam Yearbook Controversy og:description: It's not the first time the photo has made the rounds on social media og:url: https://time.com/5519534/mitch-mcconnell-confederate-flag-northam-yearbook/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt538f9b7a0754b060/6989447022fb853322e27b56/mitch-mcconnell.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Senate Lawmakers Address The Media After Their Weekly Policy Luncheons og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Photo of Mitch McConnell in Front of a Confederate Flag Resurfaces Amid Northam Yearbook Controversy twitter:description: It's not the first time the photo has made the rounds on social media twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt538f9b7a0754b060/6989447022fb853322e27b56/mitch-mcconnell.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Photo of Mitch McConnell in Front of a Confederate Flag Resurfaces Amid Northam Yearbook Controversy > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d8447729-6722-4221-b13b-64495f65e73f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Virginia Governor Ralph Northam Denies Being in Racist Yearbook Photo [Watch (HLS stream): Virginia Governor Ralph Northam Denies Being in Racist Yearbook Photo](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8fc18QKE.m3u8) (2:29)  _Published 2019-02-02. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam told reporters on Saturday that he does not believe he is one of the two people in a racist photo featured in his school yearbook._  by [Alejandro de la Garza](https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/)  ## Alejandro de la Garza Feb 3, 2019 10:56 PM UTC  by [Alejandro de la Garza](https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/)  ## Alejandro de la Garza Feb 3, 2019 10:56 PM UTC In the midst of the ongoing controversy over [a racist photograph](http://time.com/5519354/governor-northam-not-resigning/) on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook page, a photograph of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) posing in front of a Confederate flag is making the rounds on social media. > [](https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1092102407910313985) The photograph of McConnell, which apparently shows the senator posing in front of a large Confederate flag, had previously surfaced in 2015, [according to Snopes](https://www.snopes.com/news/2017/02/10/mitch-mcconnell-posed-front-large-confederate-flag/). The photo was allegedly taken at a Sons of Confederate Veterans event in the early ’90s. Following the revelation of the racist yearbook photograph, Democratic Gov. Northam has refused to step down despite facing mounting pressure to resign. The photograph in question shows one person apparently wearing blackface posing with a person dressed in KKK robes. The governor [initially apologized](http://time.com/5519061/virginia-governor-racist-yearbook-photos/) on Friday for appearing in the photo, before denying that he was either figure in the photograph in a news conference on Saturday. The photograph of McConnell has regained traction on social media in the past few days, in part spurned on by the controversy over Northam’s photograph. Some users on Twitter cited the photograph as an example of Republican hypocrisy in condemning the Democratic governor’s alleged photograph while apparently being soft on racism within their own party. > [](https://twitter.com/cameron%5Fkasky/status/1091736048777023488) > [](https://twitter.com/rosie%5Fgilrobles/status/1092126217547862016) “This picture gets ‘attention on social media’ frequently,” McConnell spokesman David Popp said in a statement to TIME. “The left trots it out every time Sen. McConnell speaks out on race or the Confederate flag–as he did on Charlottesville, the Confederate flag over SC’s capitol, removing Jefferson Davis from the Kentucky capitol, his comments on Steve King and so on. They’ve been doing this for many, many years.” Popp also stated that the picture was apparently from a Sons of Confederate Veterans event “30 years ago or so.” Democratic leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Northam’s own state’s senior Democratic lawmakers, are calling on the governor to resign. Republican leaders have also criticized the governor, with President Trump calling Northam’s conduct “unforgivable” [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1091858686371344384?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1091858686371344384&ref%5Furl=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fblogs%2Fblog-briefing-room%2Fnews%2F428216-trump-northams-yearbook-photo-depicting-men-in-blackface-kkk). ## Transcript When my staff showed me the photo in question yesterday, I was seeing it for the first time. I did not purchased the EVMS yearbook and I was unaware of what was on my page. When I was confronted with the images yesterday, I was appalled That they appear on my page, but I believe them and now that I am not either of the people in that photo. In the hours since I made my statement yesterday, I reflect it with my family and classmates from the time and I found my conclusion that I am not the person In that photo. My belief that I did not wear that costume or attend that party stamps in part from my clear memory of other mistake I made in the same period of my life. That same year I did participate in a dance contest in San Antonio In which I darkened my face as part of a Michael Jackson costume. I look back now and regret that I did not understand the harmful legacy of an action like that. It is because my memory of that episode is so vivid That I truly did not believe I am in the picture in my yearbook. Today, I am not ready to ask for [ UNKNOWN ] to grant me their forgiveness for my past actions. I also do not fully expect that they were immediately believed my account of these events. Right now, I am simply asking for the opportunity to demonstrate, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the person I was is not the man I am today. I am asking for the opportunity to earn your forgiveness. I believe the agenda this administration is pursuing, Clearly demonstrates the progress both I and our commonwealth have made since the darkest chapters of our history. I promise to fight for Virginia that works better for all people and our commitment to economic justice, access to health care, criminal justice reform Educational equity and a clean environment reflect those priorities. As this conversation moves forward, I want to hear from Virginians from every walk of life, about how we can fight even harder to build the Virginia that they deserve. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5519534/mitch-mcconnell-confederate-flag-northam-yearbook/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5519534/mitch-mcconnell-confederate-flag-northam-yearbook/"},"headline":"Photo of Mitch McConnell in Front of a Confederate Flag Resurfaces Amid Northam Yearbook Controversy","datePublished":"2019-02-03T22:56:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-13T08:21:36.697Z","description":"It's not the first time the photo has made the rounds on social media","url":"https://time.com/5519534/mitch-mcconnell-confederate-flag-northam-yearbook/","keywords":["Senate","Virginia","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt538f9b7a0754b060/6989447022fb853322e27b56/mitch-mcconnell.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alejandro de la Garza","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt538f9b7a0754b060/6989447022fb853322e27b56/mitch-mcconnell.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Senate Lawmakers Address The Media After Their Weekly Policy Luncheons","caption":"Senate Lawmakers Address The Media After Their Weekly Policy Luncheons","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/senate/","name":"Senate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5519534/mitch-mcconnell-confederate-flag-northam-yearbook/","name":"Photo of Mitch McConnell in Front of a Confederate Flag Resurfaces Amid Northam Yearbook Controversy"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Virginia Governor Ralph Northam Denies Being in Racist Yearbook Photo","description":"Virginia Gov. 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