Obama Expresses Regret to Sherrod
ABC News reports that President Obama called Shirley Sherrod to express "regret" at her firing.
President Obama spoke to Shirley Sherrod, the USDA official who was ousted after a race flap, and expressed his "regret" over the events of this past week, the White House said this afternoon.
According to the White House, Obama "emphasized that [Agriculture] Secretary [Tom] Vilsack was sincere in his apology yesterday, and in his work to rid USDA of discrimination."
On Thursday morning Agriculture Department officials e-mailed Sherrod a specific job offer and today Obama told her he hoped she would take it.
The president told Sherrod that "this situation may present an opportunity to continue helping people if she's interested, and he hopes that she will do so," the statement from the White House said.
Obama tried to reach Sherrod twice last night but was unable to leave her a message because her voice mail was full. This morning White House staff continued to reach out to her but were unsuccessful. Eventually Sherrod got the message and called back at which point she spoke to the president.
Obama reached Sherrod by telephone at about 12:35 this afternoon and their conversation lasted for seven minutes.
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