Story highlights Kazuya Maruyama made the comment during a meeting of the Upper House constitutional panel

He later apologized and said he was "sorry that I made a remark that could lead to misunderstanding"

The lawmaker has drawn comparisons with Donald Trump

(CNN) A lawmaker from Japan's ruling political party has apologized for inaccurately stating that U.S. President Barack Obama is a descendant of slaves.

"In America, a black man became president. I mean, he's in a bloodline of black people who were slaves," Kazuya Maruyama, a lawmaker from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), said Wednesday, during a meeting of the Upper House constitutional panel.

"People in the country's founding era would have never thought a black slave would become president," Maruyama said, making a point about America's "dynamic reform" while discussing constitutional changes being debated in Japan.

Obama, the first African American U.S. president, is not a descendant of slaves. He's the son of black father from Kenya and white mother from Kansas.

In a press conference after the meeting, Maruyama apologized for the statements that were widely perceived as racist. "I'm sorry that I made a remark that could lead to misunderstanding."

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