Sen. Harry Reid is mad, y’all, at the GOP for the “unprecedented disrespect” they showed President Obama. He tweeted yesterday:
History will look back and note that Republicans in Congress treated President Obama with unprecedented disrespect.
— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) September 29, 2016
This would be the same Sen. Harry Reid who was forced to apologize in 2010 for saying then Sen. Obama was “light-skinned” and had “no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” From CNN:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid apologized Saturday for making racially insensitive remarks about Barack Obama during the presidential campaign.
Journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann reported the remarks in their new book, “Game Change,” which is scheduled to be in bookstores Tuesday.
The authors quote Reid as saying privately that Obama, as a black candidate, could be successful thanks, in part, to his “light-skinned” appearance and speaking patterns “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”
Was that respectful, Senator?
And let’s not forget Joe Biden’s apology to Obama for his own potentially racist remarks, calling his future running mate “articulate” and “clean.” From the New York Times:
The call from Mr. Reid was the latest in a string of apologies Mr. Obama has accepted over the years, underscoring the sometimes uneasy evolution of race and politics in America. Three years ago, then-Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware told the New York Observer that Mr. Obama was “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”
Or how about when Bill Clinton told Sen. Ted Kennedy, again during the campaign, that “a few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee.” Clinton went on to accuse Kennedy of only supporting Obama because he was black. From the New York Daily News:
“A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee,” the former president told the liberal lion from Massachusetts, according to the gossipy new campaign book, “Game Change.”
The book says Kennedy was deeply offended and recounted the conversation to friends with fury.
After Kennedy sided with Obama, Clinton reportedly griped, “the only reason you are endorsing him is because he’s black. Let’s just be clear.”
That’s Harry Reid in a nutshell. Policy differences with the president equals “disrespect.” But racist remarks from Democrats? No big deal. Just apologize and it’s like nothing, ever happened.
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