'A few years ago he would've been carrying our bags': New report reveals the insensitive racial remark Bill Clinton made about Barack Obama in 2008

Ex-President said to have made remark in 2008 before later backing Obama

Bill Clinton made an insensitive racial remark about Barack Obama while his wife battled him for the Democratic nomination vote, it was claimed today.

The former U.S. president, whose wife Hillary battled Obama in the 2008 primary campaign, is said to have remarked of the current president: 'A few years ago, this guy would have been carrying our bags.'

Clinton allegedly made the insensitive remark to Senator Ted Kennedy in 2008, while trying to convince him to endorse Hillary for the Democratic nomination, according to the New Yorker.

Rift: Clinton, pictured in 2009 having given Obama his backing, is alleged to have made the racially insensitive remark about the current president in 2008 Claim: Clinton is said to have made the remark to late Senator Ted Kennedy (right), who eventually backed Obama for Democratic Nomination

Writer Ryan Lizza said he heard about the comment from NBC newsman Tim Russert, who died in 2008.

Four years ago Clinton and Obama had clashed following Hillary Clinton's failed bid for Presidency, which she lost to Obama.

Although Clinton is said to have since given his backing to the current U.S. President, his remark is the latest in a series of apparent outbursts against Obama.

The ill-advised comment follows claims of another remark attributed to Clinton in 2010, where he is said to have commented: 'A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee.'

Clinton and Obama had clashed in 2008 following wife Hillary's failed bid as a Democratic Presidential hopeful the same year

The ex-President is quoted as having made the other remark in the book 'Game Change' by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin.

The latest revelation comes just days before Clinton is due to give a speech to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC on Wednesday night.

Further book claims last year said that Clinton had previously branded Obama 'incompetent' and an 'amateur'.

Mr Clinton is said to have torn into Mr Obama and branded him ‘incompetent’ and that he ‘did not know how to be President’.

Clinton added that Obama 'does not know how the world works', according to an article in the Sunday Post by Edward Klein, author of 'The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House.'

He even urged his wife to quit her job as U.S. Secretary of State and challenge him for the Democratic ticket as she knew how to do a better job of it. Clinton's team denied the remarks, branding Klein as a well known liar.



Mr Clinton is yet to issue comment in response to the latest reported remarks.

The rocky relationship between the 42nd President and the current President has been closely scrutinized since the aggressive primaries in 2008, where Hillary was running for President.



During that contest, Clinton made headlines for calling the premise of Obama's campaign, his opposition to the Iraq War, 'the biggest fair tail I've ever seen.'

But despite their often tense relationship, the President buried the hatchet with charismatic Clinton earlier this year by asking him to be a leading star of his re-election campaign.



Obama's team will likely be keeping a close eye on Clinton as he takes to the North Carolina stage this week, praying that he causes no further cracks in the party for the Republicans to seize on.



66-year-old Clinton said in July that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's business career was 'sterling' and criticized the Obama campaign's attacks on Romney's background at the private equity firm Bain Capital.

