Donald Trump expected to appoint Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon to his cabinet
The former US Senate candidate might serve as the President-elect's Commerce Secretary
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Your support makes all the difference.President-elect Donald Trump may have found one of his first Cabinet members in a former executive of World Wrestling Entertainment.
Much speculation has encircled who will be involved in the incoming Trump administration as he begins to name the first appointees to his staff, since his unexpected win on election night.
One of the unusual names in his list of appointees is Connecticut’s Linda McMahon, former WWE chief executive and two-time US Senate candidate, sources close to the presidential transition team told NBC. Ms McMahon first campaigned for New Jersey Gov Chris Christie – who Mr Trump recently ousted from his transition team amid the ongoing Bridgegate scandal – before switching her support for the New York businessman.
Although she comes from the world of professional wrestling, Ms McMahon served on the Connecticut Board of Education in 2009. But NBC News says she resigned in 2010 after state election officials restricted political campaign activity of board members.
Subsequently, she ran for US Senate in 2010 and 2012.
Ms McMahon is married to current WWE CEO Vince McMahon, who has fought against the President-elect in Wrestlemania XXIII in 2007. In the bout, Mr Trump body-slammed and shaved the head of Mr McMahon before being taken down by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
Mr Trump will be the first member of the WWE Hall of Fame to assume the role of the presidency.
He has had a close relationship with the WWE for more than two decades. Wrestlemanias IV and V were held at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City.
The McMahons, in turn, have donated millions to the Trump Foundation – $5m in 2007 and 2009 – the largest donation for the organisation, according to the Hartford Post and Courier.
Ms McMahon had recently condemned Mr Trump's remarks against women – which included boasts of sexual assault made in 2005 – calling them "deplorable" in an October interview with Katie Couric. But she still believed he was the man for the job.
"He really is a vessel of this angst and unrest in this country,” McMahon said. “He said it straight out, didn’t worry about being politically correct … I think that really is a seed of a great deal of his popularity. I think Donald has proven himself in a lot of areas to be an astute businessman. I think that he will hire good people for advice.”