Stamm: DeVos Flunks a Character Test by Blaming Aide for Word Misuse on Twitter

Public attention can be unforgiving, particularly in political life, as Betsy DeVos is reminded this week.

The Cabinet nominee had a rough couple of days in Washington, D.C. -- mainly at her Senate Education Committee confirmation hearing.

“It surprises me that you don’t know that issue,” snapped Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., after what he interpreted as confusion about the difference between measuring pupils' proficiency and their growth. That may seem a picky point, but it reinforces critics' claims that the Michigan billionaire is unqualified to be education secretary.

“This wasn’t a matter of mixing up some jargon," education journalist Libby Nelson writes at Vox (right). "DeVos’ response, as well as her reactions to similar questions about the basics of federal education policy, suggested she knows little about what the department she hopes to lead actually does.”

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., asked at the same hearing whether schools that get federal money should have to address students’ special needs. “I think that’s a matter best left to the states,” DeVos replied. That led to a question about knowledge of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which requires special needs services .The nominee said she may have been confused.

Those awareness gaps may be less revealing than a reflex displayed by the Grand Rapids Republican on Friday, or perhaps by someone tweeting for her.

Nearly six hours after an inauguration-related tweet under DeVos' name used "historical" rather than "historic," a corrected tweet replaced the language slip. In addition, this was tweeted to 50,400 followers:

Apologies for the earlier error, everyone. Proof our staff members are only human! :)
— Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVos) January 20, 2017

Way to turn a small slip into a bigger gaffe, Betsy. And who confesses their tweets are ghosted?

Anyone can mix up two words in the rush of phone-tapping from a public event. But it takes a special lack of humility to toss a social media assistant under the bus rather than tweeting (or directing the same person to tweet): Apologies for the earlier slip, everyone. Proof I'm only human! :)

Leadership means taking, not deflecting, responsibility for what your team does.

Opportunities like that are teachable moments, Madame Secretary-Designate.

Original news post, Friday night:

Betsy DeVos: "Staff members are only human!"

When you're up for the nation's highest education post, people pay attention to language use. When you mess up, they mock.

In an Inauguration Day tweet, Michigan's Betsy DeVos misuses "historical" -- a slip later blamed on an unnamed social media assistant.

The president's pick for education secretary, or whoever runs her account, oirginally posted: "Honored to witness the historical inauguration and swearing-in ceremony for the 45th President of the United States."

"Historical" refers to past events, while "historic" refers to important events, critics note.

This is the nominee for Education Secretary.

Historical means of or concerning history.

She means 'Historic'https ://t.co/aUa4ndOBSB
— Will McAvoy (@WillMcAvoyACN) January 20, 2017

The ridiculed tweet was replaced more than five hours later. DeVos gracelessly blamed an aide.

As it turns out, she has company at the White House. A presidential tweet with a misspelling was replaced Saturday morning, but not in ttime to avoid more partisan mocking: