Apex, Nevada (CNN) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that he is "very proud" of having told Barack Obama early on that he believed he was a viable candidate for president and could win election.





Responding to the controversy surrounding a newly published remark he made privately about Obama's race in 2008, Reid sought to emphasize his longstanding support for the nation's first African-American president.





"I can still remember the meeting that took place in my office with Sen. Barack Obama, telling him that I think he can be elected president," Reid said.





Obama "was kind of surprised that the Democratic leader was calling this new senator over to suggest that he could be elected president," he added.





A new book quotes Reid, D-Nevada, as saying privately in 2008 that Obama could be successful as a black candidate in part because of his "light-skinned" appearance and speaking patterns "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."





Reid said Monday that numerous prominent African-American officials, including NAACP Chairman Julian Bond and Attorney General Eric Holder, have called him to offer support amid the controversy that began over the weekend.





"I've apologized to everyone with the sound of my voice that I could have used a better choice of words," he said after an event announcing a new energy project in his home state. "And I'll continue doing my work for the African-American community."





Reid said that "as a very young man," he became a leader of civil rights efforts, including the integration of the gaming community.





He added that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called him to say he should "tell everybody that you have done more for diversity in the United States Senate than all the rest of the people put together."





Asked whether he should apologize to voters, Reid -- who had issued a statement over the weekend apologizing "for offending any and all Americans" -- did not answer directly and instead cited the support he has received from around the country and within his own state.





"I'm not going to dwell on this any more," Reid said. "It's in the book. I've made all the statements I'm going to make."





iReport: What do you think about the words Reid used?





The book he referred to, "Game Change," went on sale Monday. The authors write that "Reid was convinced, in fact, that Obama's race would help him more than hurt him in a bid for the Democratic nomination."





Reid apologized in a statement sent to CNN over the weekend. "I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words," he said.





He added, "I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African-Americans, for my improper comments. I was a proud and enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama during the campaign and have worked as hard as I can to advance President Obama's legislative agenda."





Reid called the president Saturday and apologized. In a statement issued after the call, Obama expressed support for Reid, saying, "As far as I am concerned, the book is closed."





Speaking to CNN contributor Roland Martin, Obama described Reid as "a friend of mine. He has been a stalwart champion of voting rights, civil rights."





"This is a good man who has always been on the right side of history. For him to have used some inartful language in trying to praise me and for people to try and make hay out of that makes absolutely no sense," he said in the interview, which will air this month.





"I guarantee you the average person, white or black, right now is less concerned about what Harry Reid said in a quote in a book a couple of years ago than they are about how we are going to move the country forward, and that's where we need to direct our attention."





A senior administration official said Monday that Obama will go to Nevada in February
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