FIRST ON FOX: Betsy DeVos – who served as head of the Education Department under former President Donald Trump – remains undecided on whom she will support in the 2024 race for the White House.
“She’s watching the race closely but has not yet made a decision on an endorsement,” Nate Bailey, DeVos’ chief of staff, told Fox News Digital. “She’s very encouraged to see all of the candidates talking seriously about expanding education freedom and empowering parents.”
DeVos, the 11th person to serve as the U.S. secretary of education from 2017 to 2021, was one of few Trump-era Cabinet members to maintain her post for his entire term in office.
As education secretary, the Michigan native championed school choice, arguing that parents should have the power to take tax dollars allocated for their child to different schools if their local public school doesn’t meet their needs.
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Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos testifies during a Senate hearing on March 28, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Zach Gibson/Getty Images)
DeVos touted Trump’s 1776 Commission as an alternative to the historically inaccurate 1619 Project, which pegs slavery as the foundation of American history.
But the former education secretary, now 65, has shown warmth to a number of other 2024 Republican candidates.
On May 31, DeVos appeared with former Vice President Mike Pence in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a conversation on what conservatives believe.
Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump and Mike Pence pose for a photo at Trump International Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Nov. 19, 2016. (Drew Angerer)
The DeVos family financially backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ gubernatorial campaigns. According to state campaign finance records, DeVos personally contributed $5,500 to a super PAC that backed DeSantis’ reelection bid in April 2022.
DeVos continues to be an influential voice about American education. Last year, she released her best-selling book, “Hostages No More: The Fight for Education Freedom and the Future of the American Child,” which covers critical race theory in education, COVID-19 pandemic school lockdowns and how to fix America’s schools.
Before serving as education secretary for the Trump administration, DeVos advocated for school choice, charter schools and free speech on campuses.
Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos arrives for the 45th Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 4, 2022. (Stefani Reynolds)
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She and her husband started All Children Matter in 2003 in support of voucher programs. In 2010, she helped found the school choice advocacy organization American Federation for Children.
DeVos and her husband founded the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation in 1989, which donated to charter and Christian schools, organizations supporting school choice, and various universities and arts foundations.
