White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has admitted citing inaccurate data which she claimed showed Donald Trump had already created hundreds of thousands more jobs for African-Americans than Barack Obama did in eight years as president.
Ms Sanders wrongly told a media briefing that Mr Obama oversaw the creation of only 195,000 jobs for black workers during his two terms in office, less than a third of the 700,000 who found employment in Mr Trump’s first 18 months.
In fact, about three million more African-Americans were in work by the end of the Democrat’s second term, according to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics.
“I’m sorry for the mistake, but no apologies for the 700,000 jobs for African Americans created under President Trump,” tweeted Ms Sanders after US media outlets pointed out the inaccuracy.
She said the “jobs numbers for Pres Trump and Pres Obama were correct, but the time frame for Pres Obama wasn’t”.
The figure initially cited by Ms Sanders appeared to be related to figures on changes to minority employment in the first 20 months after the past three presidential terms.
The White House Council of Economic Advisers tweeted that data without explanation and apologised to Ms Sanders for a “miscommunication”.
The press secretary cited the inaccurate figures as she fielded questions about claims that President Trump used racial slurs.
Former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman has alleged the American leader repeatedly used the N-word, branding him a “racist”.
Her claims prompted a vicious Twitter attack from Mr Trump, who described her as “crazed,” a “crying lowlife,” and a “dog”.
Asked if she could "guarantee the American people will never hear Donald Trump utter the N-word", Ms Sanders said: "I can’t guarantee anything."
She added she had never heard the president use the slur herself.
