Outgoing Democrat Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam continued to lash out at his own constituents this week when asked about the state’s slow response to a massive traffic jam on Interstate 95 that left hundreds of drivers stranded for more than 24 hours.
“I’m going to just tell you right off the bat—I don’t know why you are sitting there saying, ‘What went wrong?'” Northam told a local radio host on Thursday.
“Why don’t you start asking some of these individuals that were out on the highways?” he continued. “Why did you feel it was so important to drive through such a snowstorm?
Northam claimed that the blizzard was a rarity for the state.
“It started with rain that then turned into a slushy snow of 8-10 inches more than was predicted and then, after midnight, turned into essentially an ice rink, with tractor-trailers jackknifing, other vehicles leaving the road,” he said.
The only discussion about the I-95 traffic jam should be about the first responders and emergency personnel who unclogged the jam, Northam said.
“I think we ought to be thankful that nobody got hurt, nobody lost their lives, Interstate 95 is up and running, and people are back at home and back to work,” he said.
“These are men and women that were out there in the elements rescuing people, getting the interstate opened back up,” Northam continued. “I can’t be more prouder, and I hate to vent on you right now. I am getting sick and tired of people talking about what went wrong.”
Virginians have slammed Northam’s response, calling him a “jacka***” for blaming drivers instead of his own administration, which failed to adequately clear the roads after the storm.
“We had it pegged for like three days [in] advance. You knew it was going to be a lot of snow,” local weatherman Bob Van Dillen said on air in response to Northam this week.
“We were adding to it. Six to eight was the forecast, and they got about an extra four,” Van Dillen said. “Shut up, dude. That pisses me off, I got to just be honest with you. When people say that, ‘Oh, we didn’t know it was coming,’ yeah you did.”
