Ahead of Sunday's debate in Charleston, Holder will campaign for Clinton in South Carolina. Eric Holder endorses Hillary Clinton

Former Attorney General Eric Holder endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination on Wednesday, praising his former administration colleague's plans to tackle a wide range of issues, from gun violence to college affordability.

"Our next president can't shy away from building on the progress of President Obama, which is why Hillary Clinton is the candidate that we need in the White House," Holder said, according to The Associated Press, which first reported the news from the Clinton campaign earlier this morning.


Ahead of Sunday's debate in Charleston, Holder will campaign for Clinton in South Carolina.

Holder, who is a partner at the law firm Covington & Burling, said that Clinton has the "experience and right judgment to deliver results for families across the country."

"I've seen her deal with the issues that will confront the next president firsthand, and she has bold plans to address police brutality, fight for commonsense reforms to our gun laws, get incomes rising, and make college affordable," the former attorney general said, according to the full statement tweeted by a CNN reporter.

A Republican president, Holder said, would "tear down our progress on civil rights, health care and curbing gun violence."

"It can't and won't happen under Hillary who has spent her life taking on the toughest fights," he said, according to the statement.

Holder is one of several past and present Obama Cabinet officials to endorse the former secretary of state, including former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. Current Cabinet officials who have endorsed Clinton include Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, Labor Secretary Tom Perez and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.