North Carolina Attorney General, Roy Cooper (D) has announced that he will not defend the constitutionality of his state’s newly-enacted anti-LGBT law. Cooper is running for governor against incumbent anti-gay republican Pat McCrory, who has issued lie-filled statements in support of the law, which excludes LGBT citizens statewide from all discrimination protections.

“Not only is this new law a national embarrassment, it will set North Carolina’s economy back if we don’t repeal it,” Cooper said. “We know that businesses here and all over the country have taken a strong stance in opposition to this law.”

Republican Senate leader Phil Berger said Tuesday that Cooper should resign as attorney general for failing to defend the law, and accused him of pandering to left-wing backers as he runs for governor.

“I’m doing my job and will continue to do my job,” Cooper responded, noting that the new law conflicts with policies in his office and the state treasurer’s office protecting employees from discrimination based on things such as sexual orientation and marital status.

“Employees who get the job done here should be welcome without fear of discrimination,” he said. “Therefore our office will not represent the defendants in this lawsuit nor future lawsuits involving the constitutionality” of the law, he added.

Cooper, the attorney general since 2001, commended Georgia’s Republican Gov. Nathan Deal for vetoing his state’s “religious freedom” bill on Monday