Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather is in a spot of bother after he said in an interview that he didn’t believe President Obama could sell watermelons.

On his appearance on The Chris Matthews Show, Rather said

And the Republicans will make a case and a lot of independents will buy this argument. “Listen he just hasn’t been, look at the health care bill. It was his number one priority. It took him forever to get it through and he had to compromise it to death.” And a version of, “Listen he’s a nice person, he’s very articulate” this is what’s been used against him, “but he couldn’t sell watermelons if it, you gave him the state troopers to flag down the traffic.”

Warermelons are considered to be a stereotypical food for African Americans, and hence the use of the term is considered racist.

As a number of outlets have rightly pointed out: if Rather was a Republican, these comments would be used to crucify him about now, but apparently only those on the right can be racists.