Governor Lee applauds Trump pick to lead Department of Education. Opponents criticize her experience and ties to a sex abuse lawsuit

Linda McMahon’s profile photo from social media

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee wasted no time applauding President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of a former professional wrestling mogul to serve as the United States Secretary of Education.

Trump announced his decision to nominate World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) co-founder Linda McMahon on social media Tuesday night and Lee issued a response an hour later, cheering McMahon’s work with universal school choice plans to let parents use taxpayer dollars to send their children to private school.

 “@Linda_McMahon is a proven leader who has delivered school choice for families across the nation. As Secretary of Education, she’ll work with @realDonaldTrump to empower parents with education freedom & send education back to the states so that every child can thrive,” wrote Lee on X.

Governor Lee hopes to pass a universal school choice bill of his own, sometimes referred to as vouchers, next year.

According to an announcement from the incoming Trump administration, McMahon has served as the Chair of the Board at the Trump affiliated America First Policy Institute (AFPI) where she has worked on universal school choice initiatives in 12 states.

McMahon served the prior Trump administration as the Administrator of the Small Business Administration and she’s additionally served on the Connecticut Board of Education and as a member of the Board of Trustees at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Trump has previously said he wants to dump the U.S. Department of Education, a position Lee also supports.  The President-elect’s announcement Tuesday referenced that proposal and left open the possibility that McMahon would be charged with leading the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education.

“Linda will fight tirelessly to expand “Choice” to every State in America and empower parents to make the best Education decisions for their families,” wrote Trump in a statement released on social media. “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. We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort.”

McMahon herself has not commented publicly on whether her primary role will be to dismantle the department that provides more than $800 million to Tennessee alone, including support for students with disabilities, those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and key funding for rural Tennessee school districts. Since her nomination, McMahon has instead stressed her support for school choice and apprenticeship programs.

“Apprenticeship Programs are a pathway to successful careers. Switzerland provides a model the rest of the world can adapt. They employ Apprentices in 230 Occupations and most of their CEOs were Apprentices,” wrote McMahon on social media. “I’ve witnessed the transformative power of education, both in the classroom and also in apprenticeship programs. All students should be equipped with the necessary skills to prepare them for a successful future.”

Experience and ties to a sexual abuse lawsuit criticized

McMahon’s nomination attracted nationwide criticism for her alleged lack of experience to lead the U.S. Department of Education. The president of the nation’s largest teachers union issued a statement blasting the nomination as an attack on public schools.

“By selecting Linda McMahon, Donald Trump is showing that he could not care less about our students’ futures. Rather than working to strengthen public schools, expand learning opportunities for students, and support educators, McMahon's only mission is to eliminate the Department of Education and take away taxpayer dollars from public schools, where 90% of students - and 95% of students with disabilities – learn, and give them to unaccountable and discriminatory private schools,” said National Education Association President Becky Pringle.

Tennessee Democrats also attacked the nomination, and Governor Lee for supporting it .

“Trump’s choice of Linda McMahon as Education Secretary is a slap in the face to hardworking Tennessee families who depend on strong public schools to educate their children. McMahon, a billionaire with zero qualifications for the job, already proved her incompetence in Trump’s Cabinet by mismanaging the Small Business Administration. Now, she’s poised to do the same damage at the Department of Education, advancing Trump’s Project 2025 goal of dismantling the agency altogether,” wrote Tennessee Senate Democratic Caucus Press Secretary Brandon Puttbrese in a statement to the Tennessee Firefly. “Even worse, Gov. Bill Lee’s enthusiastic support for this appointment reveals his own agenda: expanding his disastrous private school voucher scam that’s diverting public education funding from neighborhood schools while failing Tennessee students. Instead of prioritizing accountability and excellence, Trump and Lee are handing out jobs to loyalists who will put politics and privatization schemes ahead of our kids’ futures. Tennesseans deserve leaders who will invest in public schools—not undermine them for political gain.”

McMahon is additionally facing criticism for her connections to a sexual abuse lawsuit she and her husband and WWE co-founder Vince McMahon are named in. That complaint alleges the McMahons did nothing to stop the sexual abuse of boys as young as 12, by former WWE announcer Melvin Phillips Jr.

Five anonymous former “Ring Boys” filed the complaint last month claiming they were groomed and sexually abused by Phillips.  Those five “John Does” accuse McMahon and her husband of knowing about the sexual abuse in the early to mid 1980s and allowing Phillips to continue working for the WWE until 1988, when they fired him and rehired him six weeks later.

“After decades of suffering in silence from their childhood trauma, these survivors come forward now to hold Defendants" accountable for their conduct in allowing the systemic and pervasive abuse by Phillips,” wrote the five “John Does” in the complaint. “The WWE and McMahons knew about Phillips's sexual abuse of Ring Boys but did not take any measures to prevent it, or to protect the young boys. Instead, for years, they Knowingly allowed Phillips to use the allure and stature of being associated with the WWE to lure, recruit, groom, and sexually abuse numerous underaged boys.”

An attorney for the McMahons refuted the allegations in the complaint, calling them “meritless.”

McMahon’s nomination is awaiting approval by the U.S. Senate.

This story was updated to include quotes from McMahon, Pringle, Puttbrese, and additional details about the lawsuit against McMahon.