Bond and Attorney General Eric Holder , have called him to offer support amid the controversy that began over the weekend . `` I 've apologized to everyone with the sound of my voice that I could have used a better choice of words , '' he said after an event announcing a new energy project in his home state . `` And I 'll continue doing my work for the African-American community . '' Reid said that `` as a very young man , '' he became a leader of civil rights efforts , including the integration of the gaming community . He added that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called him to say he should `` tell everybody that you have done more for diversity in the United States Senate than all the rest of the people put together . '' Asked whether he should apologize to voters , Reid -- who had issued a statement over the weekend apologizing `` for offending any and all Americans '' -- did not answer directly and instead cited the support he has received from around the country and within his own state . `` I 'm not going to dwell on
Apex , Nevada -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that he is `` very proud '' of having told Barack Obama early on that he believed he was a viable candidate for president and could win election . Responding to the controversy surrounding a newly published remark he made privately about Obama 's race in 2008 , Reid sought to emphasize his longstanding support for the nation 's first African-American president . `` I can still remember the meeting that took place in my office with Sen. Barack Obama , telling him that I think he can be elected president , '' Reid said . Obama `` was kind of surprised that the Democratic leader was calling this new senator over to suggest that he could be elected president , '' he added . A new book quotes Reid , D-Nevada , as saying privately in 2008 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 said Monday that numerous prominent African-American officials , including NAACP Chairman Julian