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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/24/donald-trump-wwe-wrestling-linda-mcmahon>
"Despite her background in professional wrestling, Linda McMahon is not known
for bombast. Indeed, she’s terrible at it: in the many years during which the
former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO would make occasional appearances in
her company’s programming as a version of herself, she was always derided by
fans for her lack of charisma and wobbly speaking voice.
The most notable thing she did in any of the storylines was pretend to be
comatose in a wheelchair while her husband, the vastly more explosive Vince
McMahon, sexually harassed one of his female wrestlers in a skit. Linda won’t
be winning an Emmy anytime soon.
That’s ultimately what makes her a threat: she doesn’t seem like one. She is
falsely perceived as a “moderate” and will come across as the “good cop” in a
collection of awful ones. When she was nominated as director of the Small
Business Administration in 2017, under Donald Trump, she was the only cabinet
pick who passed with substantial Democratic support – 81 out of 100 senators
voted to confirm her. She made it through her two-plus years in the role
without drawing attention (despite the fact that her husband was simultaneously
making lucrative business deals with the Saudi government). She will almost
certainly be confirmed by the Senate again with relatively little difficulty.
They have other things to worry about.
But senators
should be worried about putting McMahon in charge of education
policy. Behind her grandmotherly affect beats a cold heart. As I documented in
my biography of her husband,
Ringmaster, Linda and Vince have presented a
united front at all times even amid accusations of sexual assault. She was
almost certainly aware of a massive pedophile ring that ran within the
McMahons’ World Wrestling Federation (as it was known) from the 1970s to the
early 90s.
Just last month, five additional men stepped forward in a lawsuit to accuse
Linda and Vince of knowingly allowing their childhood sexual assaults.
Naturally, the McMahons deny any wrongdoing. (Vince is also under federal
investigation for sex trafficking, a fact that Linda has yet to publicly
comment on.)
So far, Linda hasn’t mimicked Trump’s wild attacks on his opponents or the
institutions of the US government. Her first statement since receiving Trump’s
nomination was bland: “All students should be equipped with the necessary
skills to prepare them for a successful future.” But I would doubt that her
tenure will be moderate.
She has never spoken or acted in opposition to any of Trump’s extremist
policies in the past, and she has been friends with him since the early 1980s.
She ran the biggest pro-Trump Super Pac in 2020 and is currently the co-chair
of Trump’s transition team. There is no reason to doubt that this lifelong
Republican and dedicated Trumpist operative will enact large swaths of the
Project 2025 agenda, which calls for slashing school budgets and censoring
educational content on race and gender.
There is an illusion at play here. McMahon will be held up as a “reasonable”
woman. But given that she works for Trump, her reasonableness is nothing more
than “kayfabe”."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics