Trump’s Latest Cabinet Pick Is Also Mired in a Sexual Abuse Scandal
Proximity to sexual abuse and scandal increasingly looks like a prerequisite for joining Trump’s upcoming Cabinet. President-elect Donald Trump made yet another surprising pick on Tuesday, naming former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon as his intended nominee for education secretary. McMahon, along with her husband, Vince McMahon, helped turn the WWE into the pervasive entertainment product that has become intertwined with modern North American culture. Trump was a good friend to the McMahons during this time, even getting in the ring for the “Battle of the Billionaires” in 2007. Linda McMahon stepped down from WWE in 2009 and launched herself in conservative politics, serving on the Connecticut State Board of Education and running two unsuccessful campaigns for Senate in 2010 and 2012. She then became a Republican megadonor, and was rewarded with an administrator position at the Small Business Administration in Trump’s first-term Cabinet. On Tuesday, she was rewarded once again.“Linda will use her decades of Leadership experience, and deep understanding of both Education and Business, to empower the next Generation of American Students and Workers, and make America Number One in Education in the World,” Trump wrote in a statement. “We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort.” But much like Trump Cabinet picks Pete Hegseth and Matt Gaetz, McMahon has troubling skeletons in her closet. The WWE has long been known for its highly questionable, borderline abusive work environment.Linda McMahon and Vince McMahon—from whom she is now reportedly separated—are being sued by five anonymous plaintiffs who served as “ring boys,” essentially teenage stagehands. The ring boys allege that they were being sexually abused by WWE wrestlers Pat Patterson and Terry Garvin. The suit states that both Linda and Vince knew exactly what was happening to the ring boys but did little, if anything, to stop it. Vince faces even more damaging allegations of sexual assault, trafficking, and more. And although these are separate from Linda, almost all of these accusations date from when Linda was leading the WWE. Trump has yet to comment on the allegations. Linda McMahon also falsely claimed in 2009 on a candidate questionnaire for the Connecticut Board of Education that she had a bachelor’s degree in education, when she only has a certificate. Per The Washington Post’s recap of the incident, she resigned from the board as soon as she heard that local journalists intended to make her error public, but claimed the timing of her resignation was merely coincidental.If confirmed as education secretary, McMahon will be charged with carrying out Trump’s plan for the Department of Education: specifically, to kill it completely.
Proximity to sexual abuse and scandal increasingly looks like a prerequisite for joining Trump’s upcoming Cabinet. President-elect Donald Trump made yet another surprising pick on Tuesday, naming former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon as his intended nominee for education secretary.
McMahon, along with her husband, Vince McMahon, helped turn the WWE into the pervasive entertainment product that has become intertwined with modern North American culture. Trump was a good friend to the McMahons during this time, even getting in the ring for the “Battle of the Billionaires” in 2007.
Linda McMahon stepped down from WWE in 2009 and launched herself in conservative politics, serving on the Connecticut State Board of Education and running two unsuccessful campaigns for Senate in 2010 and 2012. She then became a Republican megadonor, and was rewarded with an administrator position at the Small Business Administration in Trump’s first-term Cabinet. On Tuesday, she was rewarded once again.
“Linda will use her decades of Leadership experience, and deep understanding of both Education and Business, to empower the next Generation of American Students and Workers, and make America Number One in Education in the World,” Trump wrote in a statement. “We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort.”
But much like Trump Cabinet picks Pete Hegseth and Matt Gaetz, McMahon has troubling skeletons in her closet. The WWE has long been known for its highly questionable, borderline abusive work environment.
Linda McMahon and Vince McMahon—from whom she is now reportedly separated—are being sued by five anonymous plaintiffs who served as “ring boys,” essentially teenage stagehands. The ring boys allege that they were being sexually abused by WWE wrestlers Pat Patterson and Terry Garvin. The suit states that both Linda and Vince knew exactly what was happening to the ring boys but did little, if anything, to stop it. Vince faces even more damaging allegations of sexual assault, trafficking, and more. And although these are separate from Linda, almost all of these accusations date from when Linda was leading the WWE. Trump has yet to comment on the allegations.
Linda McMahon also falsely claimed in 2009 on a candidate questionnaire for the Connecticut Board of Education that she had a bachelor’s degree in education, when she only has a certificate. Per The Washington Post’s recap of the incident, she resigned from the board as soon as she heard that local journalists intended to make her error public, but claimed the timing of her resignation was merely coincidental.
If confirmed as education secretary, McMahon will be charged with carrying out Trump’s plan for the Department of Education: specifically, to kill it completely.
