Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Monday said President Trump ought to use cleaner language when speaking in public, but stopped short of saying she would wash his mouth out with soap.
While campaigning for Republican congressional candidate Rick Saccone in western Pennsylvania, Trump referred to NBC “Meet the Press” anchor Chuck Todd as a “son of a bitch.”
NBC “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie asked DeVos if she would consider herself “in charge of what our kids learn” and if a good, old-fashioned soap cleaning is what Trump needs.
“I would probably use different language myself,” DeVos said. “I think we all have an opportunity and a responsibility to be examples to our kids. … That would include the president as well.”
The Cabinet member’s critique is a break in precedent after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday defended Trump for using offensive language in public as just one of “a lot of funny moments at that rally.”
Trump had been telling rally attendees about a decades-old interview on the show with a previous host before suddenly slamming its current anchor.
“It’s 1999, I’m on Meet the Press, a show now headed by sleepy eyes Chuck Todd. He’s a sleeping son of a bitch. I’ll tell you,” Trump said Saturday.
