Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring speaks during the Virginia Democrats' campaign rally at the Prince William County fairgrounds in Manassas, Va., on Sunday, Nov. 4, 2018.

"It sounds ridiculous even now writing it. But because of our ignorance and glib attitudes — and because we did not have an appreciation for the experiences and perspectives of others — we dressed up and put on wigs and brown makeup, Herring said. "This was a onetime occurrence and I accept full responsibility for my conduct."

In a statement, he said that when he was an undergraduate at the University of Virginia "some friends suggested we attend a party dressed like rappers we listened to at the time, like Kurtis Blow, and perform a song."

"Honest conversations and discussions will make it clear whether I can or should continue to serve as attorney general," Herring said on Wednesday, shortly after he met with members of Virginia's Legislative Black Caucus.

Herring left his own future as AG up in the air after disclosing he wore blackface.

Just four days ago, Herring had said "it is no longer possible" for Gov. Ralph Northam to remain in office because of revelations that Northam's 1984 medical school yearbook page contained a photo of a man in blackface and another man dressed as a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Northam on Saturday denied being either of those men in that photo but disclosed he had worn shoe polish on his face to dress up like Michael Jackson at a dance contest in 1984.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring admitted Wednesday that he wore blackface to dress up like a rapper at a college party in 1980, throwing even more political chaos into a state whose governor is ensnared in his own blackface scandal and whose lieutenant governor is accused of sexual assault.

Later Wednesday, Herring voluntarily stepped aside as co-chair of the Democratic Attorney Generals Association for an interim period.

Northam, also Democrat, still faces widespread calls for his resignation after a conservative news site last week published his yearbook page photo.

And Northam's would-be successor, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, another Democrat, was accused earlier this week of sexually assaulting a woman at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. He denies her accusation.

If Northam, Fairfax and Herring all resign, the state's speaker of the House of Delegates, Kirk Cox, would become governor. Cox is a Republican.

The Republican majority in the House of Delegates was decided by a name being drawn from a bowl to break a tie in a race for one seat in that legislative body.

A Democrat has been in Virginia's governor's mansion since 2014.

Tweet

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said he was "shocked and disappointed" by Herring's disclosure.

Warner said the week has been an "awful" one for Virginia.

He refused to comment further when asked by NBC News if Herring should resign.

On Thursday, after this article was first published, Warner's spokeswoman emailed CNBC to say that Warner had not called for Northam's resignation because of the possibility that he may have worn blackface, as NBC News's question to him had suggested he did.

Instead, the spokeswoman pointed to the statement that Warner issued last Saturday with Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., in which they said: "After we watched his press conference today, we called Governor Northam to tell him that we no longer believe he can effectively serve as Governor of Virginia and that he must resign."

"Governor Northam has served the people of the Commonwealth faithfully for many years, but the events of the past 24 hours have inflicted immense pain and irrevocably broken the trust Virginians must have in their leaders. He should step down and allow the Commonwealth to begin healing."

In his full statement Wednesday, Herring said: