Hillary Clinton’s national political director has apologized on behalf of the candidate after she used the phrase “off the reservation” in an interview.
In candid comments on Twitter late Friday, Amanda Renteria, the Clinton campaign official, said that the phrase has “very offensive roots” and that “divisive language has no place in our politics.”
During an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper that aired earlier in the day Clinton dismissed recent criticism she’s received from Donald Trump, saying that “I have a lot of experience dealing with men who sometimes get off the reservation in the way they behave and how they speak.”
The comments sparked a backlash, mostly on social media, because of the reference to reservation. Former Ohio state senator Nina Turner, a Bernie Sanders supporter who once served on the board of a pro-Clinton super PAC, called out the front-runner over the comments.
“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,” Turner told CNN’s Tapper on Friday. (RELATED: Democrat: Hillary’s ‘Off The Reservation Remarks Are Offensive To Native Americans)
Renteria, who previously served as chief of staff to California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, said that Clinton’s comments were not intended to offend anyone.
This is the second time this month that Clinton has faced accusations of using racially offensive language. Earlier this month she took part in a comedy skit with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in which they joked about “CP time,” or “colored people’s time,” which plays on a stereotype that black people are chronically late for events.
She dismissed criticism about those comments, saying that it was de Blasio’s idea to perform the skit. (RELATED: Hillary Blames De Blasio For Racist ‘Colored People’s Time’ Skit)
Clinton has also been hammered this election cycle for comments she made way back in 1996 on “super-predators.” That was a term used during the height of the gang violence epidemic to describe teenagers with violent criminal tendencies. Some have asserted that the term is racist against blacks.