Wrestling's Dark Past Shadows McMahon's Education Bid

Linda McMahon is up for a big job. She wants to lead the Education Department. This job is huge. It oversees more than 50 million students in about 98, 000 public schools and 32, 000 private schools around the United States. But there are some big concerns. Some former employees of the WWE and their families have raised questions about McMahon's commitment to protecting children. They point to a lawsuit from October. The lawsuit alleges that McMahon and her husband, Vince McMahon, knew about child sex abuse at the hands of a WWE employee but did nothing to stop it. McMahon's attorney has denied these claims. McMahon herself is not accused of any abuse. The lawsuit involves a WWE ring announcer, Melvin Phillips Jr. , who is accused of abusing young boys, known as "ring boys, " in the 1980s. These boys helped set up and take down wrestling rings. Phillips allegedly exploited them later under the guise of mentorship. One of the victims, now grown, spoke to NBC News. He said it was exciting to be part of WWE. But he also said Phillips could be violent and abusive. He said, "It definitely was not a safe place for a child to be. " McMahon's lack of education experience is another concern. She only served one year on the Connecticut Board of Education in 2009. She stepped down from that role and as CEO of WWE ahead of her unsuccessful run for the Senate in 2010. She had a second unsuccessful Senate run in 2012. And she was the head of the Small Business Administration during Trump's first term. If confirmed, McMahon could face a unique challenge. Trump is reportedly planning an executive order to eliminate the Education Department. This move would require congressional approval. Top Senate Democrats seem more focused on policy questions for McMahon than on the controversies surrounding WWE. Senator Bernie Sanders, the ranking minority member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, is likely to focus his questioning on how strongly she'd push to privatize public education, whether she'd support pay raises for teachers and whether she'd support efforts to cut programs in low-income school districts. The lawsuit against McMahon and her husband has sparked a lot of emotion. The sister of an alleged victim said, "She let a pedophile run through her company. " She also said, "She knew better. It was her duty to report this to the police and have that man arrested. " McMahon's attorney has denied the allegations. She said, "This civil lawsuit based upon thirty-plus year-old allegations is filled with scurrilous lies, exaggerations, and misrepresentations regarding Linda McMahon. " The lawsuit also raises questions about McMahon's leadership of the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights. This office enforces critical child protection policies like Title IX, a civil rights law that prevents federally funded schools from practicing sex discrimination. During Trump's first administration, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos overhauled campus sexual assault regulations. She gave accused students more avenues to defend themselves and restricted how schools could investigate sexual assault allegations. Last year, during Biden's tenure, the department rescinded the Trump administration changes. But a judge struck them down. Education groups and department officials are concerned about what McMahon's leadership could mean for the Office for Civil Rights' future if the department were to be dismantled. The National Education Association, a teachers labor union, explained in an article on its website how folding the Office for Civil Rights into another agency could harm students. They said, "Many expect the White House to move the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights to the Department of Justice, a move that would severely weaken its ability to protect students against discrimination based on race, gender, and disability. " While the country's largest education labor unions are concerned about the potential elimination of the department, others say it could be a good thing overall. DeVos, who has long supported privatizing schools, echoed Trump's call to eliminate the department. She said, "Students will be better off without" it. In an op-ed in Bari Weiss' online publication The Free Press, DeVos calls the Education Department a "middleman" that serves only to add "cost and complexity. " She said she struggled to get the department to "make even the smallest changes to put the needs of students first. " The former ring boy who spoke to NBC News said that while he never met Linda McMahon, he was deeply concerned that she may lead the Education Department because she's not taking any accountability for what happened to him and others at WWE. He said, "Until she takes accountability and shows some remorse and some responsibility, then she shouldn't have that position. " He also said, "She's involved in covering it up. So what else will she cover up? " The allegations against McMahon and her husband first surfaced in the late 1980s. She reportedly played a role in rehiring Phillips after his initial dismissal in 1988. He was fired again in 1992 with $300, 000 severance, according to the lawsuit. In a sworn deposition, New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick testified that Vince McMahon admitted both he and Linda McMahon knew about what they characterized as Phillips' "unnatural interest and attachment to children. " Vince McMahon reportedly said, "Linda and I decided this was wrong, " and the McMahons fired Phillips, only to rehire him weeks later. According to Mushnick's testimony, Vince McMahon claimed, "He was returned by Linda, " with the condition that he "steer clear of underaged boys, stop hanging around kids, and stop chasing after kids. " By 1992, accusations against Phillips and WWE employees burst into full public view, with ring boy Tom Cole filing a lawsuit against World Wrestling Federation, Mel Phillips and others alleging abuse. Linda and Vince McMahon weren't named as defendants in Cole's lawsuit. Cole claimed he was fired after he refused to engage in sexual acts with another WWE executive. He settled to get his job back with $55, 000 in back pay, according to the agreement signed by Linda McMahon. Tom Cole's brother Lee Cole told NBC News that Linda personally contacted his brother over the years. She also thanked him for staying silent about the abuse at WWE during her 2010 Senate run, according to the current lawsuit. Lee Cole said his brother's final words to him before he died by suicide in 2021 still haunt him: "You make sure you let them know what they did to me. " Lee Cole now hosts the podcast "Wrestling with the Devil, " on which he amplifies the voices of former ring boys who allege abuse by Phillips. A supporter of Trump's, he is disturbed by the choice of McMahon to lead the Education Department -- and he has written to Sanders, of the Senate HELP Committee, to raise concerns about her nomination. He said, "I'm a big Trump supporter, and I'm very disappointed in his selection of Linda McMahon. " He also said, "It didn't matter whether you were a child, a man, a woman -- nobody was safe from sexual abuse in that company. "