Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. says he rejected an offer from President-elect Trump to be nominated his secretary of education.
Falwell was one of Trump’s earliest evangelical supporters, endorsing the billionaire businessman and appearing with him at campaign events.
Falwell told the Associated Press that Trump made him the offer in New York last week, and wanted a commitment of four-six years. He said he rejected the offer because if he were to leave Liberty University, which was founded by his late father, he would have to move his family. Falwell also said more than two years’ income as a Cabinet member would be insufficient.
As of 2012, Cabinet secretaries earned an average of $200,000 a year.
Trump announced Wednesday that he picked Betsy DeVos, a former leader of the Michigan Republican Party and a prominent supporter of charter schools in the Great Lakes State, as his education secretary.
Falwell called Devos an “excellent choice.”
