A former board member of a pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC lambasted the former secretary of state on Friday for uttering the phrase “off the reservation” in a recent interview because it is offensive to some Native Americans.
“As an historian, I would caution any of us in this country to talk about anybody being off the reservation. Let us not forget that the colonists of this country stole the land from our Native American brothers and sisters and government put them on reservations. So we have to be careful with that type of language,” Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator who previously served on the board of the pro-Clinton group, Correct the Record, told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Turner, who surprised political observers last year when she endorsed Bernie Sanders for president, was responding to comments Clinton made during an interview with Tapper.
Responding to recent criticism from Donald Trump, Clinton said, “I have a lot of experience dealing with men who sometimes get off the reservation in the way they behave and how they speak.”
Many observers wondered if Clinton was also talking about her husband Bill Clinton, who has had numerous affairs on the former first lady.
But Turner made a different observation.
“It’s terrible,” she said of Clinton’s “reservation” comment.
CNN’s Tapper appeared to agree.
“Lot of people not aware of it, but the term ‘off the reservation’ is very offensive to a lot of Native Americans,” he responded. “Thanks for that reminder.”
This is the second time this month that Clinton has been criticized for making remarks that some have said are racially offensive.
Earlier this month she took part in a comedy skit with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in which the pair joked about “CP Time,” a reference to “colored people’s time” — the stereotype that black people are often late for appointments.
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