Education Secretary Betsy DeVos resigns blaming Trump rhetoric after Capitol riot
US Secretary of Education Betsy Devos speaks during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House on March 27, 2020, in Washington, DC. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Ge
FOX 2 - WASHINGTON (AP) -- Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has resigned a day after the Capitol insurrection, and says President Donald Trump's 'rhetoric' was 'inflection point.'
In a resignation letter Thursday, DeVos, a Michigan native, blamed President Donald Trump for inflaming tensions in the violent assault on the seat of the nation's democracy. She says, "There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me."
DeVos has become the second Cabinet secretary to resign a day after a pro-Trump insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao tendered her resignation earlier Thursday.
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos resigned her position tonight, saying Good Riddance."
In a farewell letter to Congress earlier this week, DeVos urged lawmakers to reject policies supported by President-elect Joe Biden, and to protect Trump administration policies that Biden has promised to eliminate.
News of DeVos' resignation was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.