No Comparison Between Reid's and Lott's Remarks, White House Says

Over the weekend, Reid apologized to President Obama about his remarks and the president accepted the apology.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNSNews.com) - The White House rejected any comparison of racial comments by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to remarks made by former Senate leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), even as Republicans cited a double standard at play and called for Reid to resign his leadership post.

A new book about the 2008 presidential race, Game Change (Harper), reports that Reid "believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama -- a 'light-skinned' African American 'with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one,' as he later put it privately."

Over the weekend, Reid apologized to President Obama about his remarks and the president accepted the apology.

In early 2002, Senator Lott was pushed to resign from his leadership post after praising South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) at his 100th birthday party. Lott said of Thurmond - who had, in 1948, run as a third-party segregationist candidate for president - "I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Monday that the comments by Reid and Lott were not similar.

"I don't understand exactly how one draws the analogy to a former majority leader expressing his support for the defeat of Harry Truman in 1948 so that Strom Thurmond would be president running on a State's Rights ticket," Gibbs said in response to a reporter's question at the White House.

"I don't see how that is analogous to what Senator Reid said," Gibbs continued. "I understand what people have to say on TV or to get themselves on TV. I would suggest they spend about 40 seconds figuring out that to draw that analogy strains any intellectual enterprise, any real reality."

The book Game Change was written by Time magazine's Mark Halperin and New York magazine's John Heilemann.

Obama issued a statement Saturday expressing no hard feelings about the Reid comment.

"Harry Reid called me today and apologized for an unfortunate comment reported today," Obama said. "I accepted Harry's apology without question because I've known him for years, I've seen the passionate leadership he's shown on issues of social justice and I know what's in his heart. As far as I am concerned, the book is closed."

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Still, Republicans and black conservatives expressed disappointment about Reid's comments.

Mychal Massie, chairman of the black conservative group Project 21, denounced Reid's remarks.

"Harry Reid is a loathsome individual whose apology was based on exposure, not repentance," Massie said in a statement. "Reid's comments are proof positive that the racial animus of the past is alive and prevalent among liberals today, notwithstanding the fact that their standard-bearer is a black man."

On Monday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) called for Reid to further explain his comment.

"Americans deserve to know: What exactly did Harry Reid mean when he referred to the president's skin color and said that he had 'no Negro dialect?'" NRSC spokesman Brian Walsh said in a statement. "If these are the types of comments that Harry Reid is making behind closed doors, then it's no wonder why he has worked so hard to keep his health care negotiations closed to the public."

"While Reid's apology to the president was certainly necessary, reporters and constituents alike should ask the Senate majority leader exactly what he meant by these controversial statements during his event in Nevada today," Walsh said. "And this revelation should serve as another important reminder for Democrats to uphold the utmost in transparency during the ongoing health care discussion and other important debates in Washington."

Reid's spokesman told the Associated Press in a statement that the majority leader had no plans to resign.

"The Republicans are saying this because they know they can't beat Harry Reid," Manley said. "The only way to get him is to try to push him out. Senator Reid stands by the president and will continue his life's work to improve people's lives."

On NBC's "Meet the Press," Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who is black, called for Reid to resign.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)"There is this standard where the Democrats feel that they can say these things and they can apologize when it comes from the mouths of their own," Steele said. "But if it comes from anyone else, it's racism."

Gibbs asserted several times that the president believed the comment was unfortunate, but did not take offense. But when a reporter asked, "What would have been a better way to express what he wanted to say?" Gibbs was largely non-responsive.

"I appreciate the opportunity not just to speak for an official but to speak as the senator from Nevada," Gibbs said. "The president didn't take offense personally, but believes - as the statement said - this was an unfortunate choice of words. That's what the statement said."

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The revelations of Reid's racially inflammatory comments from 2008 come just a month after the Senate leader compared Republican opposition to the Democratic health care overhaul legislation with opposing the abolition of slavery.

"Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all the Republicans can come up with is, 'slow down, stop everything, let's start over.' If you think you've heard these same excuses before, you're right," Reid said on Dec. 7, 2009. "When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said 'slow down, it's too early, things aren't bad enough.'"

He continued: "When women spoke up for the right to speak up, they wanted to vote, some insisted they simply, slow down, there will be a better day to do that, today isn't quite right," and added, "When this body was on the verge of guaranteeing equal civil rights to everyone regardless of the color of their skin, some senators resorted to the same filibuster threats that we hear today."

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