Donald Trump’s education pick Linda McMahon ‘oversaw homophobic and misogynist content on WWE’

Donald Trump has picked World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) co-founder Linda McMahon as his nominee for education secretary, continuing his trend of nominating unconventional figures to top positions.

Linda McMahon has been one of Trump’s closest allies in recent years. She acted as Trump’s Small Business Administration (SBA) chief during his previous term in the White House, and after leaving the administration she immediately started a Trump Super PAC, which raised almost $83 million for the 2020 election.

As well as getting the education secretary nod, Linda McMahon is also the co-chair of Trump’s transition team, working to create a plan for governing once the president-elect takes office on 20 January 2025.

McMahon may have the dubious honour of having to eradicate her own department from January: Trump has criticised the Department of Education and promised to close it down – a job McMahon could be tasked with as education secretary.

Many have painted Linda McMahon as a relatively moderate member of Trump’s inner circle, however appearances can – particularly in the complex world of US politics – be deceptive.

She serves as chair for the America First Policy Institute, recently described by The Independent as the “right-wing organisation in Trump’s ear.”

The think tank’s post-inauguration plans include requiring ultrasounds for people obtaining abortions, making civil servants easier to fire by changing them to at-will employees, and reversing gun control laws. Plus making drastic cuts to federal agencies and installing loyalists over qualified individuals – for example Elon Musk, who has been picked to lead a new “efficiency” department.

AFPI also reportedly empowers “individuals and institutions claiming a right to discriminate, by refusing to provide services to women and LGBTQ+ people based on religious objections.”

These are some relatively recent red flags, however, before she joined the world of politics she oversaw the WWE. During her reign the wrestling league was responsible for some seriously offensive content.

A damning article on LGBTQ+ sports website OutSports details “multiple examples of homophobic… and misogynist content on WWE television during her time with the company.”

They cite a match between Tyson Tomko and Steven Richards that took place during Unforgiven 2004 – the WWE’s seventh annual Unforgiven professional wrestling pay-per-view tournament.

Richards was dressed in drag and dubbed the “Mystery Woman.” He was then beaten savagely as Tomko stripped him down to his underwear and verbally berated him with homophobic and transphobic slurs. It’s very painful to watch; YouTube clips show that even the audience grow quiet during the incident.

OutSports also unearthed a “Backlot Brawl” match at Wrestlemania XII in 1996 that shows violence used against the LGBTQ-coded Goldust character: “Goldust, portrayed by current AEW wrestler Dustin Rhodes, regularly used homoerotic advances to garner boos from the audience during the character’s early days.

They go on to explain that the framing led to violent responses from Babyfaces (the heroes of the WWE ‘universe’) that “could easily be characterised under the heavily criticised gay panic defence.”

However, unsurprisingly, clearly none of these anti-LGBTQ+ controversies prevented her rising in the right-wing MAGA ranks after Linda McMahon left the WWE in 2009 to pursue her political career.