--- description: "One problem that I've had today is keeping my Wongs straight." title: Harry Reid Makes Asian Jokes at Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5b1fa6cd919fb4c9/6986a08ccd804dc9f1ccc75a/harry-reid.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Congress](/tag/congress/) ## Congress Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Harry Reid's Joke to Asians: You're Not Smarter Than Everyone Else by [Zeke Miller](/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 22, 2014 2:40 PM CUT  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., talks to reporters in his Reno, Nev. office on Monday, Aug. 18, 2014\. He said he doesn't intend to waste his time raising money for Democrat Bob Goodman in an unlikely bid to unseat popular Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval in November. (AP Photo/Scott Sonner) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., talks to reporters in his Reno, Nev. office on Monday, Aug. 18, 2014\. He said he doesn't intend to waste his time raising money for Democrat Bob Goodman in an unlikely bid to unseat popular Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval in November. (AP Photo/Scott Sonner)Scott Sonner—AP by [Zeke Miller](/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 22, 2014 2:40 PM CUT Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid drew laughter from an Asian audience Thursday with a pair of Asian-themed jokes. “I don’t think you’re smarter than anybody else, but you’ve convinced a lot of us you are,” Reid, a Nevada Democrat, told the guffawing crowd at the Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce. Video of the remarks was recorded by the Republican opposition research group American Rising. Later, before walking off stage, Reid quipped: “One problem that I’ve had today is keeping my Wongs straight.” The group decided against backing the Reid-endorsed Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Lucy Flores, supporting Republican Mark Hutchison instead, the Las Vegas _Review-Journal_ [reports](http://www.reviewjournal.com/politics/elections/asian-chamber-spurns-reid-endorses-hutchison "undefined"). “My comments were in extremely poor taste and I apologize,” Reid said in a statement to TIME after publication of this story. “Sometimes I say the wrong thing.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3159750/harry-reid-asian-jokes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3159750/harry-reid-asian-jokes/"},"headline":"Harry Reid's Joke to Asians: You're Not Smarter Than Everyone Else","datePublished":"2014-08-22T14:40:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:48:34.489Z","description":"\"One problem that I've had today is keeping my Wongs straight\"","url":"https://time.com/3159750/harry-reid-asian-jokes/","keywords":["Congress","Harry Reid"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5b1fa6cd919fb4c9/6986a08ccd804dc9f1ccc75a/harry-reid.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5b1fa6cd919fb4c9/6986a08ccd804dc9f1ccc75a/harry-reid.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Reid-Nevada Governor","caption":"Reid-Nevada Governor","creditText":"Scott Sonner—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3159750/harry-reid-asian-jokes/","name":"Harry Reid's Joke to Asians: You're Not Smarter Than Everyone Else"}}]}] ```