Race ‘Is Not the Issue’ Says Obama

President Carter may think Obama’s critics are influenced by racism, but the president begs to differ. Obama taped five interviews on Friday, which will run on five networks' Sunday-morning talk shows. USA Today snagged a sneak preview and reports that Obama used his interview with CNN’s John King to acknowledge but steer away from Carter’s conversation about race: “Are there people out there who don’t like me because of race? I’m sure there are,” Obama said, but noted, “That’s not the overriding issue here.” The people who are a problem, he said, are those “who are anti-government.” They’ve come out of the woodwork now because they’re “more fierce during times of transition of when presidents are trying to bring about big changes.” Obama reportedly struck similar chords in interviews with CBS’ Bob Schieffer, NBC’s David Gregory, and ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. He’ll also appear on Spanish-language channel Univision on Sunday.