The White House says "offensive and disgusting" replies posted on President Barack Obama's new Twitter account are part of an open society.
But spokesman Josh Earnest says the bile flooding Obama's @POTUS account is worth the price of engaging the public on issues they care about.
Earnest says that's why Obama launched the account on Monday after more than six years in office.
A review of the Twitter feed finds numerous messages that are racist or that call the president names. Others welcome him to Twitter.
"POTUS" is an acronym for "President of the United States."
Obama had more than 2.3 million followers as of Friday.
