Obama voices regret to ousted Agriculture official
WASHINGTON
"The president told Ms. Sherrod that this misfortune can
present an opportunity for her to continue her hard work on behalf
of those in need," the White House said in a statement about a
phone call that Obama had with her at midday. "He hopes that she
will do so."
Sherrod was forced to resign earlier this week after a
conservative blogger posted an edited video of her recalling her
reluctance 24 years ago to help a poor white farmer seeking
government assistance. She said the posting took out of context a
talk she gave urging racial reconciliation.
Press secretary Robert Gibbs' office released a statement
describing Obama's call at midday Thursday following her appearance
on a host of nationally broadcast interviews. From network to
network, she said she wanted to talk to Obama about her wretched
week. But also said she felt there was no need for him to apologize
to her, as Gibbs and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack had done
earlier.
"I don't think the president is behind me," she said in one
interview, describing Obama as "not someone who has experienced
some of the things I've experienced in life."
Sherrod said she still wasn't uncertain whether she would accept
Vilsack's invitation to come back to his department, saying she
wanted to think it over.
The White House said: "The president expressed to Ms. Sherrod
his regret about events of the last several days. He emphasized
that Secretary Vilsack was sincere in his apology yesterday, and in
his work to rid USDA of discrimination."
A White House official said that Sherrod did not indicate to the
president whether she would accept the job she has been offered at
the Agriculture Department. The president tried to reach her twice
on Wednesday night but was unable to leave a message, said the
official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss
behind-the-scenes details.
White House staff were trying to reach Sherrod this morning, and
when she called back to the White House, the president spoke with
her from his private office.
The furor centered on a videotape on the Internet of Sherrod's
remarks, recalling her reluctance 24 years ago to help a white
farmer seeking government assistance. Blogger Andrew Breitbart said
he posted it to illustrate that racism exists in the NAACP, an
argument he was using to counter allegations by the civil rights
organization of racism in the tea party.
"He was willing to destroy me ... in order to try to destroy
the NAACP," Sherrod said Thursday of Breitbart, saying she still
hasn't heard an apology from him. She had argued from the start
that her talk was about racial moderation and reconciliation, and
that the Internet posting took her speech out of context.
Sherrod also reiterated she isn't certain she'll return to
government, even though the administration acknowledged she was
done a disservice by being forced out, invited out, and then
rendered cross-government apologies.
Obama has said nothing publicly about the controversy.
Sherrod said of Obama: "I'd like to help him see some of the
things that he could do in the future."
"I really regret what they did. But as I said before, he's my
president," Sherrod said. "When you get it down to where the
rubber meets the road, I think you need to understand a little more
what life is like. I'd love to talk to him, though, or people in
his administration ... to help them understand."
In offering a public apology Wednesday, Vilsack told reporters:
"This is a good woman. She's been through hell. ... I could have
done and should have done a better job." He addressed the media
after speaking to her by phone.
Sherrod accepted Vilsack's apology.
And a new job offer was put on the table as the administration
sought to keep the embarrassing events of this week from being more
than a three-day distraction.
But will Sherrod want to return to the Agriculture Department?
"They did make an offer. I just told him I need to think about
it," said Sherrod in a telephone interview with The Associated
Press.
How much involvement was there from the White House? Was there
White House pressure last Monday to push Sherrod out, when the
snippet of remarks incorrectly suggested a racist bias?
"No," insisted Vilsack. He said he made the decision without
knowing all the facts and regretted it. "I am accepting the
responsibility with deep regret," Vilsack told a news conference.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs also insisted the
decision was one made at the Agriculture Department and he denied
White House pressure for Sherrod's immediate resignation. He
apologized to Sherrod "for the entire administration."
The president had been briefed, Gibbs said, and "he talked
about the fact that a disservice had been done, an injustice had
happened and, because the facts had changed, a review of the
decision based on those facts should be taken."
Sherrod appeared Thursday morning on CNN, ABC's "Good Morning
America," CBS's "The Early Show" and NBC's "Today" show and on
MSNBC.