Jerry Falwell Jr. turned down Donald Trump’s invitation to be Secretary of Education

David Ferguson

Donald Trump and Jerry Falwell Jr.

While many public educators and advocates for county school systems may not have found much to cheer about in the appointment of pro-charter school billionaire Betsy DeVos to be Secretary of Education, they may breathe a sigh of relief to know who didn’t get the job.

Jerry Falwell, Jr. — son of religious right icon Rev. Jerry Falwell and president of Liberty University Christian college — told the Associated Press on Saturday that President-elect Donald Trump made him an offer of the cabinet position last week at a meeting in New York City.

Falwell said that he has two more years left in his contract at Liberty and Trump wanted a four-to-six-year commitment for the post. Furthermore, he does not want to uproot his family, including his 16-year-old daughter.

The pastor said that be believes DeVos to be a “great choice” for the cabinet position.

In the past, Falwell has said that if more Americans had “concealed-carry permits,” then “we could end those Muslims before they walked in.”

The pastor was instrumental in having the LGBT Republican group GOProud banned from the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and — in spite of Trump’s purported support of the LGBT community — called Trump a “breath of fresh air” during the 2016 campaign.