While campaigning in Nevada Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told an audience of mostly Hispanic voters: “I don’t know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, okay. Do I need to say more?” Watch the video here:
Reid’s racially-charged comments come as the Nevada Democrat is trying to boost Hispanic turnout in his bid for reelection this November. Polls show, however, that Reid’s positions on immigration are very unpopular with Nevada voters in general. Reid supports the Obama administration’s lawsuit against Arizona over its immigration law, but 63 percent of Nevada voters oppose the lawsuit, according to a Rasmussen poll.
Reid voted against a measure to complete a 700-mile fence along the Mexican border in May, but 68 percent of voters nationally support building a border fence, according to Rasmussen.
The Real Clear Politics average of polls shows Reid leading Republican Sharron Angle by 2 percentage points. The Angle campaign has not yet officially responded to Reid’s remark, but an Angle staffer wrote on Twitter that Reid made an “idiotic” statement.
Update (11:35 p.m.): A statement from Sharron Angle’s deputy campaign manager Jordan Gehrke:
The last line is a reference to Reid’s comment that Barack Obama does not have a “negro dialect.” Reid apologized to Obama when his remark was published in a book in January of this year.
Update (12:32 a.m.): Karl reminds us that Harry Reid voted for a “poison pill” amendment that killed that the 2007 immigration bill:
Update (8:49 a.m.): A number of readers note that Reid’s son, Rory Reid, is trailing Republican Brian Sandoval, who happens to be Hispanic, badly in the Nevada governor’s race.
Marco Rubio, a Republican Senate candidate in Florida and the son of Cuban exiles, tells Fox News that Reid’s comments are “outrageous.” Watch Rubio here:
Update (1:18 p.m.): Reid suggests opponents want to target Hispanics because “their skin’s a tone darker.”
