Linda McMahon, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for education secretary, falsely claiming that she had a degree in education is "disqualifying," according to former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance.
McMahon's limited experience was immediately seized on after Trump announced he has chosen her to lead the Department of Education on Tuesday, with educators decrying her as "unqualified."
The billionaire professional wrestling mogul served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Newsweek has contacted McMahon for comment through an email to the America First Policy Institute, which she cofounded. The Trump transition has also been emailed for comment.
McMahon is now facing fresh scrutiny for incorrectly claiming in a vetting questionnaire before being nominated to serve on the state Board of Education in early 2009 that she had earned a degree in education from East Carolina University in 1969; it was actually in French. The Hartford Courant first reported on the error in 2010 during McMahon's unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate.
McMahon told the Courant in a 2010 interview that she wrote to Jodi Rell, the governor who appointed her to the board, to correct the error after a reporter with the Stamford Advocate noted the discrepancy. She said she had believed her degree was in education because she did a semester of student-teaching and, after state testing, had a certificate to teach.
Joyce Vance, the former U.S. attorney in Alabama and a frequent Trump critic, said that McMahon's "lie" should disqualify her from serving in the president-elect's cabinet.
"There were social media posts claiming Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Education, Linda McMahon, lied about having a college degree in education when seeking a position on the Connection Board of Education," Vance wrote in her Civil Discourse newsletter on Friday.
"She reportedly resigned a day before she was going to be exposed in the press. If this is true, it's disqualifying and will be yet another test for the Senate," Vance added.
McMahon resigned from the state education board a day after the Courant informed her that it intended to write about her answers in the questionnaire. However, she attributed her decision to step down to restrictions on board member's political activities that could complicate her Senate bid.
Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the Trump transition, told The Washington Post that the "clarification was addressed many, many years ago."
Hughes said: "These types of politically motivated attacks are the new normal for nominees ready to enact President Trump's mandate for common sense that an overwhelming majority of Americans supported two weeks ago."
In a statement announcing his selection of McMahon, Trump said she was someone with a "deep understanding of both Education and Business" who will "empower the next Generation of American Students and Workers, and make America Number One in Education in the World."
Trump touted McMahon's advocacy for school choice, saying she would "fight tirelessly to expand 'Choice' to every State in America, and empower parents to make the best Education decisions for their families."
He also said she would spearhead efforts to "send Education BACK TO THE STATES," possibly referring to his pledge to dismantle the Department of Education.
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