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Will Trump Pardon Vince McMahon?

By Andrew Sanford | News | November 20, 2024 |

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Header Image Source: Photo by Mark A. Wallenfang/Getty Images

It would be a bit cliche to call Trump’s current Cabinet picks a Who’s Who of Legion of Doom members. They’re a bevy of supervillains lining up to cash in their shameless support of the incoming fascist. It’s a cliche because people started making those comparisons immediately. They should! Trump’s choices have been nakedly corrupt and wildly unqualified. That trend continued yesterday when Trump tapped the former WWE CEO to serve as Secretary of Education in his upcoming administration.

If that sounds insane, it’s because it is! McMahon has zero experience in the education system. She arguably helped make a generation of kids dumber (raises hand). She’s a twice-failed politician in her own right, running for office in Connecticut in 2010 and 2012 and getting handily beaten. Since then she’s been pumping money into Trump’s campaign and served as his administrator of the Small Business Administration.

WWE is anything but a small business. Still, it started that way (primarily), and McMahon has been instrumental in its success. So, that appointment at least made a bit of sense! Putting her in charge of education makes zero sense if you value education. If you’re looking for someone who would be more interested in privatizing education and treating unions like they’re an abomination, she’s a perfect fit. McMahon will tear the Department of Education to the ground and reap the benefits, but will her awful, terrible, no good, (allegedly) former husband do the same?

Linda and Vince McMahon have been together since 1966 and conveniently announced their separation last night (more on that in a second). Despite decades of controversy, having to watch Vince make out with women on live television (sometimes directly in front of her), and copious lawsuits spawned by Vince’s reprehensible behavior, Linda stayed by his side. Yes, marriage vows say “in sickness and in health,” but Vince McMahon is a different kind of sick.

Vince McMahon is being sued by former employee, Janel Grant, for sexual abuse and sex trafficking. The Feds actually asked her to pause her lawsuit while they investigated the damning claims against McMahon, but I don’t see that investigation going further under Matt Gaetz’s Department of Justice. At least I wouldn’t have! Linda has stuck with Vince during all of this horrendous stuff. There were rumors they had been separated, but nothing was ever confirmed. Now, on the heels of her new nomination for Trump’s cabinet, Linda is putting some distance between her and her longtime partner.

Linda said through her lawyer that she and Vince are separated. Her lawyer also said that another lawsuit against Vince that includes Linda and was brought forward by former Ring Boys who claim they were groomed and sexually assaulted is full of “scurrilous lies.” The timing of both these statements could not be more significant. McMahon’s nomination during Trump’s last administration went smoothly, and they probably want the same to be the case this time.

But what does that mean for Vince McMahon? Trump has been a supporter of Vince’s for decades. After a stunt in which Vince McMahon got into a car that then exploded on one of his live shows, Trump famously called to make sure he wasn’t actually killed on live television like the very smart man that he is. But Vince is fairly toxic right now and that’s saying something because he’s always been at various levels of toxic. Regardless, people have stuck with him. Now, his wife is kicking him to the curb right when they are about to have a seat at the (last) table.

Does Vince still have Trump in his corner, or will he finally be punished for his (alleged) crimes?