Reid: Hope GOP opposition to Obama isn't over race
By Associated Press
Aug 9, 2013 3:22 PM CDT

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he hopes Republicans who oppose the president do so "based on substance and not the fact that he's an African-American."

The comment came during a wide-ranging interview Friday with Las Vegas-based National Public Radio affiliate KNPR (http://bit.ly/16AheWv), in which Reid lamented Republican filibusters and claimed opponents do everything they can to make Obama fail.

He recalled that Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said during Obama's first term that his most important goal was ensuring Obama wasn't re-elected. McConnell was speaking about financial issues and said he wanted Obama to change, not to fail.

McConnell's office referred a request for comment to Sen. Tim Scott, a black Republican from South Carolina, who said Reid's remarks were offensive and asked for an apology.

Reid also criticized members of the tea party, comparing them to anarchists who helped spark World War I. He said that while modern anarchists don't resort to violence, they do not believe in government and rejoice in its troubles.