DeVos calls views of white nationalists 'totally abhorrent'
Making no mention of President Donald Trump, the education secretary calls neo-Nazi views ‘cowardly, hateful and just plain wrong.’
By KIMBERLY HEFLING 08/17/2017 04:22 PM EDT Updated 08/17/2017 05:57 PM EDT
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos condemned the views of white nationalists, neo-Nazis "and other racist bigots" as "totally abhorrent to the American ideal," in a memo to staff Thursday.
While she made no mention of President Donald Trump and his statements seeming to legitimize the views of the white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend, she called such ideas "cowardly, hateful and just plain wrong."
In the wake of the protests that left one dead and at least a dozen injured, DeVos acknowledged there is "fear, pain, anger, disappointment, discouragement and embarrassment across America, and I know, too, here within the department."
DeVos' message, shared with POLITICO, was her first public statement on the issue since Saturday, when she tweeted that she was "disgusted" by the behavior exhibited in Charlottesville and said in a separate tweet "It is every American's right to speak their mind, but there is no room for violence or hatred."
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http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/17/betsy-devos-white-nationalist-views-abhorrent-241752
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