Trump Appointee’s Alma Mater Deletes Congratulatory Post After Receiving ‘Hostile Comments’

An Illinois Christian college deleted a post congratulating Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought, a graduate of the school, after facing backlash and later claimed it didn’t mean to be “political.”

Wheaton College deleted a Facebook post saying it “congratulates and prays” for Vought after the Senate confirmed him Thursday to lead OMB for a second time. The school said online comments criticizing Vought prompted the decision to remove the post by Saturday morning – a response that conservatives called “mushy” and “weak.”

“It was not our intention to embroil the College in a political discussion or dispute,” Wheaton said Saturday on Facebook. “Our institutional and theological commitments are clear that the College, as a non-profit institution, does not make political endorsements. Wheaton College’s focus is on Christ and His Kingdom.”

The deleted post said, “Wheaton College congratulates and prays for 1998 graduate Russell Vought regarding his senatorial confirmation to serve as the White House Director of the Office of Management and Budget,” according to the College Fix. Wheaton calls itself an “explicitly Christian” college.

Wheaton admitted in its statement that the post was “something we would typically do for any graduate who reached that level of government.”