Sanders apologizes over inaccurate information about African-American job numbers under Obama

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders apologized on Tuesday for providing inaccurate statistics about the number of jobs added for African-Americans during President Obama’s time in office.

Sanders claimed during Tuesday’s press briefing that Obama only oversaw the creation of 195,000 jobs for African-Americans during his eight years in office. The actual number is close to 3 million.

{mosads}”Correction from today’s briefing: Jobs numbers for Pres Trump and Pres Obama were correct, but the time frame for Pres Obama wasn’t,” Sanders tweeted Tuesday night in a rare walkback from a Trump administration official.

“I’m sorry for the mistake, but no apologies for the 700,000 jobs for African Americans created under President Trump,” she added.

Correction from today’s briefing: Jobs numbers for Pres Trump and Pres Obama were correct, but the time frame for Pres Obama wasn’t. I’m sorry for the mistake, but no apologies for the 700,000 jobs for African Americans created under President Trump https://t.co/EXGvbliwlS

— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) August 15, 2018

Sanders did not provide any specifics on the time frame during which 195,000 jobs were added for African-Americans under Obama. She quoted a White House Council of Economic Advisers tweet that apologized to Sanders for a “miscommunication.”

The Council of Economic Advisers tweeted data that showed changes in minority employment 20 months after each of the past three elections. The group provided no further context for the numbers, nor did it directly address where Sanders’s inaccurate claim came from.

Apologies for @WhiteHouseCEA‘s earlier miscommunication to @PressSec.

— CEA (@WhiteHouseCEA) August 14, 2018

Sanders cited the inaccurate information as part of a broader response to questions about whether Trump had ever used the N-word after former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman alleged the president used the slur repeatedly on the set of “The Apprentice.”

Asked if she could guarantee Americans will “never hear” Trump say the racial slur on a recording, Sanders said she “can’t guarantee anything” before pivoting to economic gains made under Trump.

“This is a president who is fighting for all Americans, who is putting policies that help all Americans, particularly African-Americans,” Sanders said. “Just look at the economy alone.”

“I’ve never heard him use that term or anything similar” but “I can’t guarantee” that President Trump hasn’t used the n-word, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says pic.twitter.com/nyBWLCeCgj

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 14, 2018