Following a rather trainwreck interview on 60 Minutes, on Monday morning Education Secretary Betsy DeVos popped up on Today where she was grilled on the Trump administration’s newly outlined school safety plan, and it went maybe only slightly better than the former appearance. The most glaring omission in the plan is Trump’s promise for universal background checks and raising the minimum age to purchase certain firearms to 21, which host Savannah Guthrie pointed out to DeVos.
“Well, the plan is really the first step in a more lengthy process,” DeVos said, deflecting the question. “The proposals that the president has put forward really encompass a lot of things that are supported on a broad, bipartisan basis…”
When asked, point blank, why Trump walked back on his stance of basic, common sense gun control, DeVos launched into her trademark word salad:
“Everything is on the table, and the commission that is being formed, which I will lead, is going to be looking at this issue, along with a number of other issues, and the point being that we have to get much broader than just talking about gun and a gun issue where camps go into their corners. There are many things that have driven this issue in the first place. And we have to go back to the beginning and talk about how these violent acts are even occurring to start with.”
Guthrie then pointed out that on February 28, Trump said in no uncertain terms that we should raise the age limit, only to do an about-face after meeting with the NRA just one day later. “A lot of people are looking at that and saying, sounds like the NRA got to him,” said Gurthie.
Later, Guthrie grilled DeVos on Trump’s unpopular proposal of arming teachers, which is included in his school safety proposal, however the education secretary didn’t have much in the way of details.
“The point is that schools should have this tool, if they choose to use the tool, community should have the tool, states should have the tool, but nobody should be mandated to do it.”
If nothing else DeVos has said that made sense, this administration is not lacking in tools — that’s for sure.
Finally, at the end of the interview, Guthrie asked DeVos what she thought of a clip they played in the previous segment, in which Trump used a “dirty word” to describe one of her colleagues, Chuck Todd. “I wonder as the education secretary, who is in charge of what our kids learn, what do you think of that kind of language?” she asked, somewhat sarcastically. “Would you wash someone’s mouth out with soap?”
“Well I would probably use different language myself, and we all have an opportunity and a responsibility to be examples to our kids,” replied DeVos. “That includes the president?” asked Guthrie. “That would include the president as well,” DeVos agreed.
(Via NBC News)