The White House is standing by President Barack Obama's public use of the N-word during a recent interview on the WTF podcast.

While appearing on the podcast "WTF with Marc Maron," Obama spoke candidly about racism in wake of the racially-charged shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church last Wednesday. The incident occurred when a 21-year-old white man named Dylann Roof opened fire while churchgoers were praying and killed nine people at the historic African American church.

"Racism, we are not cured of it. And it's not just a matter of it not being polite to say n****r in public," Obama told comedian Marc Maron on Friday, according to The Huffington Post. "That's not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It's not just a matter of overt discrimination. Societies don't, overnight, completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior," he said.

Obama's comments then sparked a firestorm of debate after the podcast was released Monday morning. However, Press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters the president does not regret using the racial slur since within the context of his response on race relations.

"As is as evident from the conversation, it was a free-flowing conversation," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told ABC News at Monday's press briefing. "It was pretty wide-ranging, and there was no decision made on the part of anybody here at the White House that we are going to capitalize on this audio interview from somebody's garage in California, that this would be an opportune time for him to get this particular point off his chest."

Earnest continued saying that the point Obama made was "entirely consistent" with his message that despite the progress made in recent decades, "we're not cured" of the "legacy of slavery" and the Jim Crow system.

After the podcast was released on Monday, some media outlets expressed shock over Obama's comment while others were offended that the president used the racial slur.

For instance, CNN called the remark a "jarring comment" in a news article, while commentators on Fox News debated over whether the statement "was beneath the dignity of his office."

CNN host Don Lemon also jumped into the debate, saying it "was about time he said it" in order to discuss honestly and accurately discuss race relations, reports Mediaite.

On the other hand, American philosopher and academic Cornel West raised eyebrows in his reaction to the Obama use of the N-word.

"Too many black people are n****rized," West said Monday on CNN. "I would say the first black president has become the first n****rized black president."

West then went on to explain that "a n****rized black person is a black person who is afraid and scared and intimidated when it comes to putting a spotlight on white supremacy and fighting against white supremacy. So when many of us said we have to fight against racism, what were we told? 'No, he can't deal with racism because he has other issues, political calculations. He's the president of all America, not just black America.' We know he's president of all America but white supremacy is American as cherry pie."