The tea party movement, at its core, is comprised of individuals who "question my legitimacy," President Obama says.

In an interview that aired this morning on NBC's "Today" show, Matt Lauer asked Obama for his opinion of the movement, saying some view it as a fringe group and others a legitimate political movement. The president said it is a "loose amalgam of forces," but that at its heart are the same kind of people that emerged in the final months of the 2008 presidential race questioning his citizenship.

Beyond that group, he added, there is a "broader circle" who are "legitimately concerned about the deficit, who are legitimately concerned that the federal government may be taking on too much."

"Last year, a bunch of the emergency measures we had to take in terms of dealing with the bank crisis, bailing out the auto industry, fed that sense that things are out of control," he said. "I think those are folks who have legitimate concerns."

Obama said he hoped to win over that group as his administration works to tackle the deficit, mentioning his proposed domestic spending freeze. But, he added: "There's still going to be a group at their core that question my legitimacy or question the Democratic Party generally or question people who they consider to be against them in some way. And that group we're probably not going to convince."

You can see the full clip here. His full answer is available after the jump.

"I think that it is a still-loose amalgam of forces. There is a part of the tea party movement that actually did exist before i was elected. We saw some of it leading up to my election. There are some folks who just weren't sure whether I was born in the United States, whether I was a socialist, right? So there is that segment of it, which I think is just dug in ideologically. And that strain has existed in American political for a long time.

"Then I think that there is a broader circle around that core group of people who are legitimately concerned about the deficit, who are legitimately concerned that the federal government may be taking on too much. And last year, a bunch of the emergency measures we had to take in terms of dealing with the bank crisis, bailing out the auto industry, fed that sense that things are out of control. And I think those are folks who have legitimate concerns.

"And so I wouldn't paint in broad brush and say that everybody who is involved or have gone to a tea party rally or meeting are somehow on the fringe. Some of them i think have some mainstream legitimate concerns. My hope is that as we move forward and are tackling things like the deficit, imposing a freeze on domestic spending and taking steps that show we're sincere about dealing with our long-term problems, that some of that group will dissipate.

"There's still going to be a group at their core that question my legitimacy or question the Democratic Party generally or question people who they consider to be against them in some way. And that group we're probably not going to convince."

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