White House press secretary apologizes for false claims on African-American jobs

WASHINGTON (WHDH) - White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is apologizing for a false statement she made about African-American job numbers.

Sanders erroneously reported that Barack Obama created 195,000 jobs for African-Americans during his presidency when he really created millions.

During Tuesday’s daily White House briefing, Sanders said:

“This is a President who is fighting for all Americans, who is putting policies in place that help all Americans, particularly African-Americans. Just look at the economy alone. This President since he took office, in the year and a half that he’s been here, has created 700,000 new jobs for African-Americans. That’s 700,000 African-Americans that are working now that weren’t working when this President took place. When President Obama left, after eight years in office, he had only created 195,000 jobs for African-Americans.”

Bloomberg News pointed out the inaccuracy, saying Obama created roughly three million jobs for African-Americans.

Sanders later sent out a tweet to correct her statement:

“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”

The White House Council of Economic Advisors also apologized for the mistake, saying there was a “miscommunication” with Sanders.

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