Dino
Russian Asset
Harry Reid, the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate, apologized on Friday after video surfaced of him cracking two jokes about Asian-American stereotypes while speaking to the Asian Chamber of Commerce in Las Vegas.
'The Asian population is so productive,' the 74-year-old Nevada lawmaker said Thursday during his speech to a group of about 100 businessmen and women.
'I don't think you're smarter than anybody else, but you've convinced a lot of us you are.'
Later, when Dr. Terry Wong, the chamber of commerce's president, was introduced onstage, Reid grabbed the microphone and joked that 'one problem that I've had today is keeping my Wongs straight.'
Reid's apology came after a conservative political action committee called America Rising posted a video of the remarks on YouTube, titling it 'Harry Reid Mocks Asians, Gets His Wongs Confused.'
'My comments were in extremely poor taste and I apologize,' he said in a statement to reporters. 'Sometimes I say the wrong thing.'
The aging senator has a history of making off-color ethnic remarks that upset some groups, especially African-Americans.
In the 2010 book 'Game Change,' journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann quoted Reid commenting to confidantes that then-Senator Barack Obama would have a leg up in a presidential election since he had the benefit of a 'light-skinned' complexion.
And, Reid reportedly continued, Obama spoke 'with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.'
Reid's apology for that remark, delivered after the book's publication, was more of a deep bow. 'I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words,' he said. 'I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African-Americans for my improper comments.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2732281/Senator-Harry-Reid-apologizes-cracking-jokes-Asians-speaking-Asian-group.html#ixzz3BW52bW8R
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Yup...there are racists out there, no doubt.
'The Asian population is so productive,' the 74-year-old Nevada lawmaker said Thursday during his speech to a group of about 100 businessmen and women.
'I don't think you're smarter than anybody else, but you've convinced a lot of us you are.'
Later, when Dr. Terry Wong, the chamber of commerce's president, was introduced onstage, Reid grabbed the microphone and joked that 'one problem that I've had today is keeping my Wongs straight.'
Reid's apology came after a conservative political action committee called America Rising posted a video of the remarks on YouTube, titling it 'Harry Reid Mocks Asians, Gets His Wongs Confused.'
'My comments were in extremely poor taste and I apologize,' he said in a statement to reporters. 'Sometimes I say the wrong thing.'
The aging senator has a history of making off-color ethnic remarks that upset some groups, especially African-Americans.
In the 2010 book 'Game Change,' journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann quoted Reid commenting to confidantes that then-Senator Barack Obama would have a leg up in a presidential election since he had the benefit of a 'light-skinned' complexion.
And, Reid reportedly continued, Obama spoke 'with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.'
Reid's apology for that remark, delivered after the book's publication, was more of a deep bow. 'I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words,' he said. 'I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African-Americans for my improper comments.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2732281/Senator-Harry-Reid-apologizes-cracking-jokes-Asians-speaking-Asian-group.html#ixzz3BW52bW8R
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Yup...there are racists out there, no doubt.
