United States Attorney General: I Am 'Proud' to Be an 'Activist

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told Fox News contributor Juan Williams in a new interview that he “proudly” accepts the label of “activist attorney general.”

“There are still [racial] issues we as a society are working our way through. And the lack of desire to do that, I think, undermines the ability that I think is inherent in the American people to make progress. But it also does not prepare us for demographic changes, the likes of which this country has never seen,” Holder said.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Addressing his critics who allege that he is using his power as attorney general to act as an “activist” for racial or left-leaning causes, Holder eagerly embraced the term.

“If you want to call me an activist attorney general, I will proudly accept that label,” he added. “Any attorney general who is not an activist is not doing his or her job. The responsibility of the attorney general is to change things [and] bring us closer to the ideals expressed in our founding documents.”

To those who allege his Department of Justice houses an “activist civil rights division,” Holder replied, “I’d say I agree with you 1000 percent and [I am] proud of it.”

The attorney general also discussed the nation’s prison system and his feelings on being held in contempt of Congress over the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal. Read the full interview here.