DeVos attacks continue; critics incorrectly blame her for Twitter typo
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Internet trolls on Sunday blamed new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for a typo on the department’s Twitter feed that misspelled the name of a prominent African-American sociologist, but a spokesman said the mistake was made by a longtime employee.
The tweet included a quotation attributed to W.E.B. Du Bois that incorrectly spelled the sociologist’s last name with an "e."
The mistake immediately drew hundreds of responses mocking the department's misspelling.
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DeVos, a wealthy political donor, was confirmed last week as President Trump’s pick for Education secretary.
But she faced a difficult Senate confirmation process in large part because of her support for voucher programs and other alternatives to public education and because she purportedly never taught in a public school.
On Friday, DeVos’ third full day on the job, she was temporarily blocked by protesters from entering a District of Columbia public school.
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By midday Sunday, the U.S. Education Department had posted a new tweet with the correct spelling and an apology. However, the post drew another round of critics because it included another typo, which was later fixed.
One commenter tweeted: "I love that your initial apology for a typo included a typo. We don't need any further proof that DeVos runs this account."
Another post urged further rebuke by urging people to “make this go viral.”
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Still, the department under DeVos leadership received some support amid the dozens of negative comments.
“As a public school teacher, it's important to embrace failures and learn from them. Slow down, it isn't a race. Proofreading helps,” one person wrote.
A spokesman for the Education Department said Sunday the misspellings had been made by a longtime department employee. He said a new review process was being put in place with additional staff to prevent future tweet errors.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.