Jimmy Carter Racism

Jimmy Carter Racism

Former President Jimmy Carter drew widespread criticism Wednesday for claiming that Rep. Joe Wilson's infamous 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 opponents of his health care plan for weeks, but Carter is the highest-profile person so far to push that claim.

While anti-Obama demonstrators have been seen carrying over-the-top or racially insensitive signs, administration critics say Carter is flat wrong to claim that those fringes make up the bulk of Obama's detractors. "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. The suggestion that race is behind Obama criticism has been made by New York Gov. David Paterson and Reps. Charlie Rangel of New York, Diane Watson of California and Hank Johnson of Georgia, among others.

But a poll released Wednesday by Rasmussen Reports showed that just 12 percent of voters believe that most opponents of Obama's health care reform plan are racist. The survey, taken Monday and Tuesday of 1,000 likely voters, found 67 percent disagree with that contention, while 21 percent are not sure. The survey had a margin of error of 3 percent. Carter, though, said in an interview with NBC that race is the driving factor.