Thread: White House disputes Carter’s analysis

White House disputes Carter’s analysis

Gibbs: Obama doesn’t believe he’s being criticized because of his race

NBC News and news services
updated 46 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The White House says President Barack Obama doesn't believe he's being criticized because of his race.

Spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday that Obama — the nation's first black president — doesn't think that criticism of his policies is "based on the color of his skin."

Gibbs was asked about the topic following comments on Tuesday by former President Jimmy Carter. Gibbs says some people have disagreements with some of Obama's decisions but that those concerns were not because of his race.

On Tuesday, Carter said Tuesday that Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst to President Obama during a speech to Congress last week was an act "based on racism" and rooted in fears of a black president.

“I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he is African-American," Carter told NBC’s Brian Williams in an interview Tuesday.

The Georgia Democrat said the outburst was a part of a disturbing trend directed at the president that has included demonstrators equating Obama to Nazi leaders. He repeated his sentiments at a town hall held later at his presidential center in Atlanta.

"Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national program on health care," he said. "It's deeper than that."

Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, was formally rebuked Tuesday in a House vote for shouting "You lie!" during Obama's speech to Congress last Wednesday.

The shout came after the president commented that illegal aliens would be ineligible for federal subsidies to buy health insurance. Republicans expressed their disbelief with sounds of disapproval, punctuated by Wilson's outburst.

“Racism ... still exists and I think it has bubbled up to the surface because of a belief among many white people, not just in the south but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It’s an abominable circumstance and grieves me and concerns me very deeply,â€

the nation's first black president — doesn't think that criticism of his policies is "based on the color of his skin."