In July, Fox News’ radical host Glenn Beck called President Obama a “racist,” saying that he “has a deap-seated hatred for white people, or white culture” — a comment that sparked a successful advertising boycott of his Fox News program. This week in an interview with CBS News’ Katie Couric, Beck said he was “sorry” for the way he “phrased” the claim, but still contended that it’s a “serious question” as to whether Obama is a racist.

During the interview, Couric posed a question from a Twitter user who wanted to know what Beck meant by “white culture” in his attack on Obama. Beck responded by stuttering: “Ummmmm, I don’t know.” He then suggested that he had already answered the criticism on his website, and therefore didn’t want to “make news” by responding to Couric.

“Can you explain what you mean by the white culture?” Couric insisted, “because some people say that sounds kind of racist.” Beck complained that he shouldn’t be the “target” for “asking” if Obama is a racist.