US President Barack Obama has said that some of the opposition he faced was because of his race but denied former President Jimmy Carter's charge that racism was a leading factor in angry criticism of his healthcare agenda.
'Are there people out there who don't like me because of race? I'm sure there are. That's not the overriding issue here,' Mr Obama said in one of a series of television interviews.
Mr Obama told CNN: 'I think there are people who are anti-government.
'I think there's been a long-standing debate in this country that is usually that much more fierce during times of transition or when presidents are trying to bring about big changes,' he said.
Mr Carter raised the point after South Carolina Republican Representative Joe Wilson shouted 'You lie' at Mr Obama during a healthcare reform speech in Congress last week.
Thousands of conservatives have also rallied in opposition to Mr Obama's planned reforms at demonstrations in Washington.
'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,' Mr Carter said.
President Obama is caught up in a fight to reclaim lost ground from critics of his effort to overhaul the US healthcare system, which is his top domestic priority.
'I think that race is such a volatile issue in this society, always has been, that it becomes hard for people to separate out race being sort of a part of the backdrop of American society, versus race being a predominant factor in any given debate,' he told ABC News.
While acknowledging some of the animosity he faces is due to racism, he said there was a flip side.
'Are there some people who vote for me only because of my race? They're probably some of those, too,' he said.
