FM's backers say attacks on him racially driven
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First Minister Vaughan Gething's supporters in the Senedd have claimed that attacks on him are racially driven.
Sources told BBC Wales that the comments were made at an urgent meeting of Labour politicians in the Welsh Parliament.
It was held on Friday night following Plaid Cymru's decision to end a co-operation agreement with the Welsh government earlier than planned.
A Welsh government source has denied that Mr Gething made such comments himself.
Mr Gething, Europe’s first black leader of a government, has been under pressure after he accepted a £200,000 donation for his leadership campaign from a company owned by a man twice convicted of environmental offences.
Earlier on Saturday, a Labour MS said: "Vaughan Gething and his supporters made the case that the attacks against him were racially driven and that he was being held to a higher standard than others."
The source added: "His supporters remain loyal but the group is still split."
However, an individual in the Welsh government itself strongly denied that Mr Gething had made such comments, and said they had instead come from Labour Members of Senedd (MSs).
A separate Labour source told BBC Wales there was racism in some of the attacks on Mr Gething, and that in some cases there was also subconscious racism.
They said: "Look at [former First Minister] Mark Drakeford losing his temper at Andrew RT Davies [Welsh Conservative leader].
"If Vaughan Gething had done that he would have been seen as an angry black man."
A member of Mr Gething’s cabinet, Mick Antoniw, said on Friday evening that the Labour group was united behind the first minister.
He said there was "complete unity", adding: "We are confident everyone will stand behind the first minister in a no-confidence vote."
The co-operation deal saw Plaid help the Labour-run government - which has exactly half the Senedd's 60 seats - get through important votes.
Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said the party had made the decision because it was "deeply concerned" about the £200,000 donation.
Mr Gething called the meeting of Labour MSs to discuss the Plaid move at the end of a turbulent week in which he also sacked minister Hannah Blythyn from his government.
He accused Ms Blythyn of allegedly leaking information to the media, but Ms Blythyn denied being the source of the leak.
'Nothing to do with race'
Separately, the chair of the Welsh Labour BAME Committee raised concerns in a statement on Saturday.
Mahaboob Basha, who supported Jeremy Miles during the leadership campaign, said Mr Gething's victory brought with it the "danger of surfacing racist attitudes in the media and elsewhere".
He said: "In the Welsh media the treatment of Vaughan Gething has gone well beyond what one can reasonably call fair scrutiny."
While also raising concerns over a national newspaper article, he added: "We feel that this scrutiny in recent weeks has crossed a line between fair examination and racially influenced attitudes and judgements."
A Welsh Conservative spokesperson said criticism of the first minister had "nothing to do with race, colour, creed, gender or sexuality".
"This has everything to do with the first minister failing to answer basic questions to fundamental issues," the spokesperson added.
Plaid Cymru said it had nothing further to add beyond the statement the party issued when it ended the co-operation agreement on Friday.
