Obama: ‘I was actually black before the election’

US President Barack Obama poked fun at claims racism was behind fierce opposition to his ambitious political agenda, joking that “I was actually black before the election.”

It was the latest attempt by Obama to tone down the debate, after former US president Jimmy Carter commented that much of the conservative fury directed at Obama’s healthcare plans was motivated by racism.

Obama said on the The Late Show with David Letterman the fact he was elected as America’s first African-American president at all was a more accurate indicator of wider race relations in the country.