What Arizonans have seen of Linda McMahon, Trump's pick for secretary of Education

President-elect Donald Trump has picked Linda McMahon, former wrestling media CEO and Trump's head of the Small Business Administration during his first term, to be in charge of national education policy.

McMahon served as the head of the SBA throughout much of Trump's first term and visited Arizona twice, hearing out local business owners and their concerns about taxes and the economy.

McMahon was selected by Trump on Tuesday to serve as secretary of Education in the new Republican Cabinet he is assembling in advance of his return to the White House.

Here is a look at McMahon's background and what Arizonans can expect under her watch of federal education.

Former wrestling entertainment pro turned politician

In the early 1980s, Linda McMahon co-founded World Wrestling Entertainment, known as WWE, with her husband, Vince McMahon.

While managing the company, McMahon helped grow WWE from a 13-person staff to more than 800 worldwide, according to her profile page on the SBA website. She served as CEO of the company for nearly 30 years.

In 2009, McMahon left her role as the CEO of WWE to pursue a career in politics, eventually getting appointed to the Connecticut board of education.

McMahon ran for the U.S. Senate as a Republican from her home state of Connecticut, but she failed to get elected in 2010 and 2012.

In February 2017, about a month after President Trump started his first term, the Senate voted 81-19 to confirm McMahon as Trump's pick for administrator of the SBA.

She served in the role throughout most of Trump's first term, stepping down in April 2019 to work on his reelection campaign.

McMahon visited Arizona twice as head of the Small Business Administration

While she helmed the government's effort to support and develop small businesses, McMahon visited Arizona twice, once in 2017 and again in 2019.

McMahon's first stop was part of a tour across the nation to visit all SBA offices, stopping in Phoenix to highlight Republican efforts to reduce and overhaul taxes.

During an interview at the event, McMahon acknowledged her experience at WWE as a background for her role at the SBA.

"I'm not sure that entrepreneurs today face any kind of different challenges than ... 1982 when we (WWE) were just getting launched. It is really always about access to capital, access to knowledge and information," McMahon said.

Two years later in 2019, McMahon visited Phoenix again to hear out complaints from small business owners about tariffs and the state's workforce.

McMahon appealed to owners concerned with the cost of tariffs, and labeled then-President Trump as "empathetic about making sure America is not on the wrong end of fair trade."

She also addressed concerns over a lack of skilled labor in Arizona and across the nation, and shared Trump's support, at the time, for vocational training and collaboration with labor unions, education systems and businesses alike.

Does McMahon have experience in education?

McMahon did not have a direct background in education, as her East Carolina University record indicated she received a bachelor's degree in French, according to a report.

Her academic program was designed to prepare teachers for instruction, but upon completion, did not award McMahon a degree specifically in education.

McMahon falsely reported that she had an education degree in a January 2009 questionnaire to serve on the state board of education in Connecticut, according to USA TODAY.

The Trump transition team did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday, but spokesperson Brian Hughes told The Washington Post, which first revived old news reports on the matter, that the "clarification was addressed many, many years ago."

Before the discrepancy was made public, McMahon was appointed to the state board of education the same year by the Connecticut governor, later confirmed by the Senate with a 34 to 1 vote, according to the Connecticut News Junkie.

She resigned from the position in 2010 in pursuit of a U.S. Senate seat.

McMahon also served on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University, based in Connecticut, first from 2004 to 2017, before returning in 2021.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Linda McMahon: What Arizonans should know about Trump's Education pick