United States Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos resigned on Thursday, becoming the second member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet to step down over the riot by his supporters in the Capitol.
In a letter addressed to Trump, she blamed the chaos in Washington squarely at the feet of the president, who cheered on the crowd before marching to Capitol Hill on Wednesday afternoon as both House of Congress were preparing to certify Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory . .
Photographer: Yuri Gripas / Abaca Press / Bloomberg
“There’s no question about the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it’s the turning point for me,” she wrote. “Impressive children watch all this, and they learn from us.
DeVos, 62, is one of many Trump administration officials to resign in the wake of the disaster, including transportation secretary Elaine Chao who also stepped down on Thursday.
DeVos had been one of Trump’s most staunch supporters and, along with Chao, one of the longest-serving members of his administration. But she recently distanced himself from the president, acknowledging that Biden won the November 3 election, even as Trump continued to make false accusations that the vote had been faked.
In her letter, released by the Ministry of Education, she highlighted what she called the government’s “many accomplishments,” including its attempt to reopen schools amid the coronavirus pandemic, which many educators and public health officials opposed.
Previously: Chao quits Trump cabinet as resignation in wake of uproar
“Mr. President, I know with certainty that history will show that we were right in our repeated push for and support for schools reopening this year and getting all American students back to learning,” she wrote.
But she added that “we need to spotlight and celebrate the many accomplishments of your administration on behalf of the American people. Instead, we need to clean up the mess created by violent protesters flooding the Capitol in an attempt to undermine the people’s business. “
Read more: Trump chose his perfect education secretary in Betsy The Fox
DeVos was appointed to the cabinet post despite her lack of experience with education policy. She advocated school choice, voucher programs, and charter schools, much to the dismay of teacher unions and liberal education activists. She also relaxed the Obama administration’s restrictions on for-profit colleges. And in 2019, she was fined $ 100,000 for violating a judge’s order to remove the collection of former students from bankrupt Corinthian Colleges Inc.
She grew up in Michigan, where she promoted educational causes, including choice of school. She is married to former Amway Corp. President Dick DeVos and is the sister of Erik Prince, the founder of the private military contractor Blackwater USA and an ally of Trump. Their father, Edgar Prince, was an engineer and industrialist.
– Assisted by Justin Sink and Andrew Kreighbaum
(Updates with background information, in last paragraph.)