Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersMcConnell accuses Democrats of sowing division by 'downplaying progress' on election security The Hill's Campaign Report: Arizona shifts towards Biden | Biden prepares for drive-in town hall | New Biden ad targets Latino voters Why Democrats must confront extreme left wing incitement to violence MORE is trying to clarify a statement he made about whether white Americans can empathize with blacks.

During Sunday night’s Democratic debate, Sanders said that "when you are white, you don't know what it's like to be living in a ghetto, you don't know what it's like to be poor."

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The Vermont senator tried to explain on Monday.

"What I meant to say," Sanders said, according to an NBC News reporter, "is when you talk about ghettos, traditionally what you're talking about is African-American communities."