Washington: US President Barack Obama has said that the uproar surrounding the racist remarks of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid`s makes "no sense" as he tried to put an end to the controversy that erupted over the weekend.
"This is a good man who has always been on the right side of history. For him to have used some inartful language in trying to praise me and for people to try and make hay out of that makes absolutely no sense," Obama told the TV One in an interview.
The interview recorded today would be aired by TV One – a six-year old cable network aimed primarily at African-American viewers.
"He`s apologised, recognising that he didn`t use appropriate language. But there was nothing mean-spirited in what he had to say," Obama said, when asked about the comments of Reid.
The uproar erupted after a new book about the 2008 election, `Game Change,` by journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin quoted Reid, as saying privately that Obama could be successful as a black candidate in part because of his "light-skinned" appearance and speaking patterns "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."
Reid had immediately called Obama and apologised. The US President said the chapter is closed for him.
PTI
