"This is a good man who's always been on the right side of history," Obama told TV One. "For him to have used some inartful language in trying to praise me, and for people to try to make hay out of that makes absolutely no sense."
Reid created a firestorm with remarks published in the just-released book "Game Change," saying that Americans had warmed to Obama's candidacy because he was a "light-skinned" African-American with "no Negro dialect."
Obama was quick to accept Reid's apology Saturday, but Republicans have called for the Nevada Democrat to resign.
"He has apologized recognizing that he didn't use appropriate language, but there was nothing mean-spirited in what he had to say and he has always been on the right side of the issues," the president added in the TV One interview, which will be broadcast in full next Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in honor of the civil rights leader.
The president also called the four-term senator, who is facing a tough re-election battle in Nevada, "a friend of mine" who has "been a stalwart champion of voting rights, civil rights."
A Mason-Dixon Polling and Research survey released over the weekend found that 52 percent of Nevada voters have an unfavorable opinion of Reid and only a third support him.
African-American leaders said they had forgiven Reid without qualms and urged the national debate to shift to pressing policy issues.
"He apologized for his unfortunate remarks concerning the president, and he understands the gravity of such remarks," said Representative Barbara Lee, leader of the Congressional Black Caucus, adding that Reid had phoned her over the weekend.
"There are too many issues like the economy, job creation and energy for these regrettable comments to distract us from the work that must be done on behalf of the American people," the veteran California lawmaker said, noting Reid has a history of helping poor and minority communities.
During an appearance in Nevada unveiling a new energy project, the leading Senate Democrat repeated his weekend apology.
"I've apologized to everyone in the sound of my voice that I could have used a better choice of words," he told reporters. "And I'll continue to do my work for the African-American community."
Obama was also eager to move on, with the Congress yet to pass a bill overhauling the US health care system, his top domestic priority. Reid is playing a critical role in negotiations between both chambers of Congress to craft compromise legislation to send to the president's desk.
"The fact that we spend days on this instead of talking about the unemployment rate or talking about how we deal with critical issues like energy and health care is an indication of why I think people don't understand what is happening in Washington," he said.
"I guarantee you the average person -- white or black -- right now is less concerned about what Harry Reid said in a quote in a book a couple of years ago than they are about how we are going to move the country forward. That's where we need to direct our attention."
Prominent African-American activist Al Sharpton, who also received a phone call from Reid, told Fox News television that while he was "offended" by the term "Negro dialect," it was not "anywhere near comparable" to offensive or insensitive racial remarks conservative leaders have made over the years.
On Sunday, Republican leaders demanded that Reid step down over the flap, while Democrats described the comments as an unfortunate choice of words, brushing aside calls from their political foes.
source-google.com
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=1eab83ec-9fde-4af5-b2c4-f799a1944beb)
0 Responses to Obama defends Senate leader, again