Trump education pick blames staff for poor word choice on Twitter
Betsy DeVos, President Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Education, blamed her staff earlier this week for a message sent out via her Twitter account that misused the word “historical.”
DeVos originally tweeted out that she was “[h]onored to witness the historical inauguration and swearing-in ceremony for the 45th President of the United States.”
The tweet was later deleted after several users noted on Twitter that the adjective “historical” is a reference to past events. “Historic,” the word DeVos later used in a corrected tweet, is used to refer to important events.
Users on Twitter were quick to criticize the education secretary nominee for that and what appears to be at least one other grammatical misstep. DeVos is a top Republican donor and school choice advocate who faced the Senate in a confirmation hearing last week.
Fixed Betsy DeVos's tweet. She can thank the _public_ elementary school, middle school, high school, and universities where I was educated. pic.twitter.com/A9fmIXRVlB
— Yael Rice (@Yael_Rice) January 20, 2017
Some middle school kids corrected pending 'Education' Secretary Betsy DeVos' tweet, hilarious. pic.twitter.com/8T6ctXJheC via @gnuman1979
— Kathryn Brusco (@KathrynBruscoBk) January 22, 2017
The dictionary company Merriam-Webster also pointed out the differences between “historic” and “historical” on the social media platform:
'Historic' and 'historical' have subtly different meanings. https://t.co/2Pew5BZPXI
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) January 21, 2017
DeVos sent out her corrected message Friday afternoon:
Honored to witness the historic Inauguration and swearing-in ceremony for the 45th President of the United States! pic.twitter.com/jjWEgMTSov
— Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVos) January 20, 2017
Later, she apologized for the error and attributed it to her staff, saying it was “proof our staff members are only human!”
Apologies for the earlier error, everyone. Proof our staff members are only human! :)
— Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVos) January 20, 2017