Former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenPelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Hillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns Fox News poll: Biden ahead of Trump in Nevada, Pennsylvania and Ohio MORE vowed to nominate a teacher to be his education secretary should he win the presidency in 2020, but declared he would not tap his wife, Jill Biden.

“First thing as president of the United States, not a joke, first thing I will do is make sure that the secretary of education, not Betsy DeVos Elizabeth (Betsy) Dee DeVosSpecial counsel investigating DeVos for potential Hatch Act violation: report NEA president says Azar and DeVos should resign over school reopening guidance The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Facebook - You might want to download TikTok now MORE, is a teacher,” Biden said at a National Education Association forum in Houston for 2020 candidates, referring to the current Education secretary.

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“So the press doesn’t get confused, I promise I’m not going to appoint my wife,” Biden added. "She'd be a good one."

Jill Biden, who wed the former vice president in 1977, is a professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenHillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline Democratic senators ask inspector general to investigate IRS use of location tracking service MORE (D-Mass.) said she would also tap a teacher to lead the Education Department, adding that “Betsy DeVos need not apply.”

Sen. Kamala Harris Kamala HarrisHundreds of lawyers from nation's oldest African American sorority join effort to fight voter suppression Biden picks up endorsement from progressive climate group 350 Action 3 reasons why Biden is misreading the politics of court packing MORE (D-Calif.) said she wants “someone from public schools,” assuring the event attendees that “you will be at the table to help me make that decision.”

DeVos has emerged as a top target for public education advocates who say that her support for private charter schools divert funds away from public schools.

On Friday, Biden was not asked about his position on school busing, which was thrust into the spotlight after last week’s primary debate. Harris hammered him for his past support for measures to limit federal power to use busing to help school integration in the 1970s when he was a senator representing Delaware.

“On this subject, it cannot be an intellectual debate among Democrats, we have to take it seriously, we have to act swiftly,” she said.

Biden has defended himself over the attacks, saying Thursday, “My record stands for itself. I’ve never been accused of anybody by my state or when I’ve been running as not being an overwhelming supporter of civil rights and civil liberties.”