Reid demands apology for 'plantation' comment

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he wants an apology from a GOP House member and Senate candidate who says that Reid runs the Senate, quote, “like a plantation.”

Reid says the comment by congressman Bill Cassidy of Louisiana is very insensitive and asks if Cassidy’s been taking lessons from a former NBA owner, Donald Sterling, who made racist remarks.

Cassidy is challenging Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu in the Nov. 4 election. The online publication Environment & Energy Daily reported his “plantation” remark on Tuesday.

Cassidy is defending the remark. In a statement, he says that Reid runs the Senate dictatorially by blocking votes he doesn’t want, and he calls any other interpretation of his remarks, in his words, “a false controversy.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS