Eric Holder, the former U.S. attorney general, is endorsing Hillary Clinton for president.
The Clinton campaign made the announcement in a video clip released Wednesday afternoon.
Mrs. Clinton “is the candidate that we need in the White House” to continue “the progress of President Obama,” Mr. Holder said in the video.
Mr. Holder served as the nation’s first black attorney general, holding the position for five years in the Obama administration.
Mr. Holder decided to endorse Mrs. Clinton because of her “bold plans to address policy brutality” and “fight for common sense reforms to our gun laws,” he said.
His endorsement comes at a boon to Mrs. Clinton, where polls show a tightening race between her and Sen. Bernard Sanders in Iowa and New Hampshire. Mr. Sanders has been aggressively courting the black community with his income-inequality message and criminal justice reform platform.
Still, Mrs. Clinton holds a wide lead when it comes to the black vote, with the majority backing her in the most recent polls.
The black community is an essential one needed to win the nomination. The Cook Political Report concluded blacks accounted for President Obama’s entire margin of victory in seven states, including battlegrounds Florida, Ohio and Virginia.
• Kelly Riddell can be reached at kriddell@washingtontimes.com.
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