Trump-backed GOP Michigan governor candidate says she disagrees with DeVos on Jan. 6

Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon said Sunday that she disagrees with former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, whose family has backed Dixon’s campaign, about the role former President Trump played in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“The secretary knows that she and I differ on that subject. I want to make sure that political speech is always protected because that could open a can of worms for anybody on both sides of the party. But the secretary knows that I disagree with her on that point,” Dixon told “Fox News Sunday” host Bret Baier.

DeVos resigned from the Trump administration the day after the Jan. 6 riot, citing Trump’s involvement. 

“There’s no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me,” DeVos wrote in her resignation letter, read aloud to the Jan. 6 committee late last month.

Dixon was also asked whether she believed the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, who has continued to make false claims about his loss to President Biden.

Dixon dodged the question, but said the election was “certainly a concern” due to changes made to accommodate voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have to make sure our elections are secure and what happened in 2020 doesn’t happen again,” she said.

Trump threw his endorsement behind conservative commentator Dixon on Friday. The DeVos family backed Dixon in May.

Dixon is in the primary ring with a handful of other candidates vying for the Republican Party’s nomination in the Aug. 2 election, with recent polling showing Dixon pulling ahead of the pack. 

The Republican nominee will face incumbent Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) in the general election.