Obama: Race not 'overriding issue'

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday racism is not the "overriding issue" in criticism of him and his administration's policies.

"Are there people out there who don't like me because of race? I'm sure there are," Obama said in an interview with CNN. "That's not the overriding issue here."

In the interview, to be broadcast Sunday, the president said much of the harsh criticism he has faced arose because he has pushed for major changes in policies. He noted other presidents, including Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, had been targets of scathing criticism.

"I think there are people who are anti-government," Obama told CNN, which aired part of the interview Friday evening. "I think there's been a longstanding 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.

"The things that were said about FDR were pretty similar to the things that were said about me: 'He was a Communist. He was a socialist.' Things that were said about Ronald Reagan when he was trying to reverse some of the New Deal programs were pretty vicious as well."

In an interview with ABC News, Obama said race is such a "volatile issue in this society ... it becomes hard for people to separate out race being a sort of part of the backdrop of American society versus race being a predominant factor in any given debate."

"Are there some people who don't like me because of my race? I'm sure there are," he said. "Are there some people who voted for me only because of my race? There are probably some of those too."