Obama stands by the term 'thugs,' White House says

David Jackson | USA TODAY

President Obama doesn't regret using the term "thug" in describing the violent rioters in Baltimore this week, spokesman Josh Earnest said Wednesday.

"Whether it's arson or, you know, the looting of a liquor store ... those were thuggish acts," Earnest said.

In discussing the riots Tuesday, Obama assailed the "criminals and thugs who tore up the place," and described them as a distraction from the real issues of police brutality.

Some critics ascribe racial connotations to the word "thug" -- Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake walked back the term earlier this week -- but Obama doesn't agree, officials said.

The vast majority of the protesters of a recent police killing acted in a law-abiding way, Earnest said.

"At the same time, we saw a small minority of individuals engaged in other activity that was not responsible that is clearly a crime," Earnest said.

He added: "And when you're looting up a convenience store or you're throwing a cinder block at a police officer, you're engaging in thuggish behavior and that's why the President used that word."