Michael Steele, the Republican Party chairman, called Sunday for Harry Reid to step down as U.S. Senate majority leader in the wake of revelations of Mr. Reid’s remarks in 2008 about Barack Obama’s skin color and dialect.
A new book about the 2008 campaign quotes Mr. Reid as predicting that Mr. Obama could become the country’s first black president because he was “light-skinned” and had “no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” On Saturday, the senator issued a public statement apologizing for the remark. He also expressed his regret for the comment in a phone call to Mr. Obama, who accepted his apology. But Mr. Steele, who is black, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that an apology was not enough and “there has to be a consequence” for “anachronistic language that harkens backs to the 1950’s and 1960’s.” Asked by the moderator, David Gregory, whether that consequence should be Mr. Reid’s resignation as majority leader, Mr. Steele said, “I believe it is.”
The statement suggested that Republicans would not let the controversy pass quietly, while Democrats, from Mr. Obama himself to the Rev. Al Sharpton, worked to put the matter to rest.
“There’s a big double standard here,” Mr. Steele said. “When Democrats get caught saying racist things, you know an apology is enough.” He recalled that Trent Lott had stepped down as Republic majority leader in 2002 after making a racially tinged remark. Had a similar statement been made by Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, Democrats would be calling for his head, he said. Mr. Steele made many of the same statements on “Fox News Sunday.”
Appearing alongside him on “Meet the Press,” Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Mr. Reid’s comments were “unfortunate and insensitive” but were made in the context of advocating a run by Mr. Obama for president. Mr. Lott’s remarks had been made in what appeared to be praise for Strom Thurmond for his segregationist candidacy.
Mr. Reid’s remarks were contained in “Game Change,” a newly published account of the 2008 presidential race by political journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. The book reported that Mr. Reid privately urged Mr. Obama, then a freshman senator, to seek the presidency in the fall of 2006 despite his limited experience and the historical obstacles to making such a run.
“I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words,” Mr. Reid said in a statement on Saturday. “I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African-Americans, for my improper comments.”
President Obama quickly expressed support for Mr. Reid.
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