I want to verify this:
“Aristotle always said, a long time ago, that when you put a message on a blank slate, that first message is critical,” Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview on Tuesday. “When you want to rechannel a message, it’s always a problem.”
Amid Virus Surge, Republicans Abruptly Urge Masks Despite Trump’s Resistance, The New York Times, 1 July 2020.
Since it was an interview, it's reasonable to believe it's an imprecise quote.
Question: Did Aristotle say words to the effect of "when you put a message on a blank slate, that first message is critical"?
Searching for Aristotle blank slate
gives Tabula rasa ("individuals are born without built-in mental content, and, therefore all knowledge comes from experience or perception") which is somewhat related and attributed to Aristotle. However, the above quote "the first message on a blank slate is critical" seems distinct from an "initially blank mind".