Former President Jimmy Carter drew widespread criticism Wednesday for saying in an interview that Rep. Joe Wilson's "You lie!" outburst last week was "based on racism" and that an "overwhelming portion" of similar demonstrations against President Obama are rooted in bigotry.
Obama's supporters have attributed racist motives to some opponents of his health care plan for weeks, but Carter is the highest-profile person so far to push that claim.
While some anti-Obama demonstrators have been seen carrying over-the-top or racially offensive signs, administration critics say Carter is flat wrong to claim that those fringe protesters make up the bulk of Obama's detractors.
"I don't see race as an issue. It's all about the policies that are coming out of the current administration," said Deneen Borelli, a black conservative who spoke at the protest rally held in Washington Saturday. Much of the condemnation of Obama's critics has come as a response to that protest, where tens of thousands demonstrated against big government and over-spending.
"I just see this as the race card being used once again to distract the American people from the core issues," Borelli said.
Adam Brandon, spokesman for protest organizer FreedomWorks, said Carter's comments were "absurd." He noted that the protest featured about a dozen black speakers.
"To say this crowd was racist is absolutely absurd when black speakers were probably the most popular speakers," he said.
"I think it's very destructive for America to suggest that we can't criticize a president without it being a racial act," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told FOX News. - FOX News StoryWell that didn't take long. Remember the Jeremiah Wright issue? What about the Harvard issue? Seems to me like the President and his people are all about the race issue. This is dangerous ground for these high profile positions to be taking. In an already deeply divided and polarized America to start pitting race against race is a dangerous slope.
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