President-elect Donald Trump announced yet another nomination for his cabinet on Tuesday, choosing World Wrestling Entertainment co-founder Linda McMahon for secretary of the Department of Education. The pick matches several patterns of recent Trump nominees, including personal loyalty, questionable qualifications and a history of controversy and scandal.
Few qualifications and a mounting scandal
McMahon is a surprise pick to lead the Department of Education; she has no experience as a teacher, school administrator or education professional besides a year spent as a Connecticut State Board of Education member. Yet she is a loyal Trump supporter. At various times, she has chaired a pro-Trump PAC and an influential conservative think tank, and she has been a leader of his transition team as he prepares to return to the White House.
While many of Trump’s former top aides have distanced themselves from him, McMahon would be a rare returnee from the first Trump administration, in which she led the Small Business Administration. Trump has long been a friend to Linda and her husband, Vince McMahon, who made the WWE the premiere professional wrestling brand in the United States and worldwide. Trump was once a backer of the Wrestlemania series, has appeared in several WWE storylines and was inducted into the company’s hall of fame in 2013. In recent years, the McMahons have faced several WWE-related scandals, including a lawsuit from several former WWE employees who claim they were sexually abused as teenagers while working for the company. Vince McMahon also faces a separate federal investigation for sexual abuse and sexual trafficking allegations.
Skeptical reactions to yet another questionable Trump pick
McMahon’s nomination fits into several patterns for the upcoming Trump administration. She is one of several nominees who have faced allegations related to sex crimes or other serious accusations of wrongdoing; this group includes Attorney General nominee Matt Gaetz, a recent congressman who has been accused of sex trafficking, including paying at least one minor for sex. McMahon also joins a number of nominees, including Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth, a combat veteran and Fox News host, and the proposed leader of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who have little to no formal qualifications for the position to which they have been nominated. Some choices seem to be intentional efforts to undermine the agencies to which these people are being nominated, and this may be true for McMahon as well, given Trump’s stated goal of abolishing the Department of Education.
Reactions to McMahon’s nomination have included large amounts of skepticism and mockery. Several people referenced McMahon’s on-screen appearances for WWE.
Brian Robinson, who mentions a doctorate in education and leadership on his social media profile, tweeted, “Linda McMahon will be the first Secretary of Education to survive a Stone Cold Stunner.”
Fun Fact: Linda McMahon will be the first Secretary of Education to survive a Stone Cold Stunner. pic.twitter.com/L1Wu8ngnXc
— Brian Robinson, Ph.D (@MrBrianRobinson) November 20, 2024
Angel Jones, another doctorate-holding educator, noted that in contrast to the scrutiny that Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson faced despite her extensive qualifications, “Betsy DeVos & Linda McMahon get to be the Secretary of Ed w/o degrees in education or teaching experience.”
Ketanji Brown Jackson has a law degree from Harvard & 25+ yrs of experience yet had her qualifications questioned when nominated for the Supreme Ct. Meanwhile Betsy DeVos & Linda McMahon get to be the Secretary of Ed w/o degrees in education or teaching experience. I wonder why🤔
— Angel Jones, PhD (@AngelJonesPhD) November 20, 2024
Regardless of the blowback over her nomination, McMahon seems set to be the next Secretary of Education. Her lack of experience and the Trump administration’s hostility toward the agency likely spell a rocky future for the department.
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