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Feb 27, 2008 11:17 pm US/Central

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Clinton Reacts To Supporter's Remarks About Obama

Reporting
Jack Fink

DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ― Senator Hillary Clinton responded Wednesday to controversial comments made by one of her prominent local supporters.

"Obama simply has the problem that he happens to be Black," Adelfa Callejo said when asked if it was smart for Senator Barack Obama to reach out to Latino voters.

The 84-year-old is a prominent leader in the North Texas Latino community and has a history of fighting for Latino rights.

But in a recent interview with CBS 11 News, Callejo, a strong supporter of Sen. Clinton, acknowledged she still felt the deep division in Dallas between many Latinos and African Americans.

"When Blacks had the numbers, they didn't do anything to support us," said Callejo. "They always used our numbers to fulfill their goals and objectives, but they never really supported us, and there's a lot of hard feelings about that. I don't think we're going to get over it anytime soon."

Click here to see more of that interview.

Callejo attended Sen. Clinton's rally in Oak Cliff last Friday morning. In a satellite interview Wednesday, Sen. Clinton said she was unaware of what Callejo has said.

"I believe strongly that the fact that we have an African American and a woman running for the Democratic nomination is historical and I'm very, very proud of that," Clinton said. "I want people to look beyond race and gender and look at our records."

CBS 11 asked Sen. Clinton if she would reject or denounce Callejo's support because of her comments. She responded, "People have every right to express their opinions. I just don't agree with that. I think that we should be looking at the individuals who are running. That's what I intend to do."

Late Wednesday night, the Clinton campaign called to clarify the senator's remarks. In a statement, the campaign said, "Senator Clinton was unaware of these remarks until this afternoon when she was asked about them on a local newscast. After confirming that they were accurately portrayed, Senator Clinton of course denounces and rejects them.

During Thursday night's debate, Clinton criticized Obama for not rejecting support from controversial figure Louis Farrakhan.

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