Who Is Linda McMahon? Trump's Pick For Education Secretary Has A Wilder TV Past Than Him

As Donald Trump's cabinet member nominating spree continues, yet another surprising pick has been added to the list. After Kristi Noem became the controversial Homeland Security Secretary nominee and Trump accidentally confirmed that his Department of Government Efficiency co-head Elon Musk is already getting super annoying, it's difficult to imagine the president-elect stirring the pot even more with his future cabinet nominations. 

Enter Linda McMahon, who seems to be doing just that. Like Trump, whose small screen credits include the reality show "The Apprentice" and guest spots on shows like "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," "The Nanny," and "Sex and the City," McMahon has a TV background. McMahon is the former CEO and co-founder of WWE — World Wresting Entertainment. Interestingly, Trump's wild TV past includes an appearance as himself at WrestleMania 23 back in 2007. 

McMahon is Trump's pick for secretary of the Department of Education. Her professional background is mostly in the world of wrestling rather than the world of education. The 76-year-old acted as president and CEO alongside her husband Vince McMahon from 1980 to 2009. After her long tenure as CEO, she briefly dipped into education. In 2009, she joined the Connecticut State Board of Education. It's worth noting that she received backlash when joining the board for not having experience. She left after only a year to run for a senate seat, which she ultimately lost. She ran again in 2012 and lost again. Ironically, an Education secretary with minimal experience is probably a pro in Trump's eyes, since he reportedly plans to eliminate the Department of Education. Trump reportedly considered McMahon for Commerce secretary before nominating her for this role.

Linda McMahon is the first of Donald Trump's cabinet nominees who had a role in his first administration. From 2017 to 2019, McMahon was the head of the Small Business Administration. Despite being an outlier in this way, McMahon does have something in common with some other soon-to-be government officials: she was involved in a sexual abuse lawsuit. A month before receiving the Education secretary nomination, McMahon became a defendant in a lawsuit alleging that, in the '80s and '90s, she and the WWE allegedly ignored "open, rampant abuse" perpetrated by ringside announcer Melvin Phillips Jr. against his young assistants, per NBC News.

In addition to her work at WWE and brief Board of Education stint, McMahon was on the Sacred Heart University board of trustees in 2004 and acted as the board chair of the America First Policy Institute. While, like many of Trump's cabinet nominees, McMahon may seem like a surprising and even confusing choice for this role, it's clear that Trump's proposed cabinet is already trying way too hard to inflate his overblown ego, and his picks are in line with this. Ultimately, a history of allegiance to Trump seems to be the best — and in some cases only — criteria to score a role in his cabinet. And this is experience McMahon does have. Trump has had a long relationship with the WWE, and the organization donated millions of dollars to the Donald J. Trump Foundation while McMahon was the CEO.