Linda McMahon: The Public Face of Trump's Fight Against ‘Woke' Education
WASHINGTON—Education Secretary Linda McMahon is presiding over a MAGA paradox.
Sporting a red 'Make Education Great Again' baseball cap, McMahon this week cracked jokes with staff at the department's Washington headquarters and spoke about their work to 'return education to the states.' Just moments later, she turned the meeting over to her deputies, who proudly ticked off the ways the department is wielding unprecedented federal authority to pressure Democratic-led states to change their education policies.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Hill
8 minutes ago
- The Hill
Padilla denies claims he lunged at Noem during LA press conference
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) denied the Trump administration's claims that he lunged at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a Thursday presser in Los Angeles. 'I wasn't lunging at her or anybody, and yes, I identified myself,' Padilla told CNN's Erin Burnett Thursday night after being forcibly removed from the presser and placed in handcuffs. The lawmaker said he attended the press briefing to ask why the National Guard was deployed by the president to address local protests sparked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids last week. 'I'm just trying to do my job as a senator when we ask questions in committee and don't get answers,' he added. Padilla said he used the press conference to try a different approach with the Trump administration to gain information on immigration operations after officials failed to respond to letters from lawmakers. 'I had a potential audience with the secretary, and I took it. Sadly, still not forthcoming with any sort of data or details,' the senator said, before describing his brief meeting with Noem following the incident. 'You would think, you would hope that that's how the meeting would have started, but no apology, no acknowledgment whatsoever. But it's the Trump administration, so I'm not holding my breath for decency, decorum or manners,' he told CNN. 'One of the big points I was trying to make with her is I get if the Trump administration was doing what Trump said on the campaign trail, let's focus on dangerous, violent criminals for detention and deportation. There's no disagreement there. There's no debate there. But that's not what's happening on the streets of Los Angeles and throughout the country,' he added. Padilla said instead lawful residents are being wrongfully removed and detained. 'Where is this going? It's going to keep getting worse. This is how authoritarianism happens, unless and until the people speak up and push back. So that's why you've seen so many protesters, vast majority peaceful protesters, not just in and around Los Angeles this last week, but increasingly in other cities,' he told CNN. 'So, we have to continue to exercise our First Amendment rights, keep it peaceful. Violence is not tolerated. Violence is not condoned. That will have its consequences. But people need to continue to speak up because this is not normal,' he added. Some Republican lawmakers have called for Padilla to be federally prosecuted over the outburst with Noem while Democrats defended his actions. The incident with Padilla follows the federal indictment of Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) for allegedly impeding and interfering with law enforcement officers at an immigration detention center and the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D-N.J.) for trespassing at the same site.


New York Times
9 minutes ago
- New York Times
5 Takeaways From the Democrats' Final N.Y.C. Mayoral Debate
In the final Democratic debate in the primary for mayor of New York City, seven leading candidates sparred over immigration, affordability and President Trump's policies. But more often, the debate on Thursday devolved into sharp personal attacks. The most pointed exchanges involved Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani, the two front-runners in polls. Mr. Cuomo pummeled Mr. Mamdani, arguing that his inexperience was dangerous. Mr. Mamdani criticized the former governor as out-of-touch and beholden to the same special interests that support Mr. Trump. Other candidates often entered the fray. Brad Lander, the city comptroller, drew attention to Mr. Cuomo's handling of nursing home deaths during the pandemic and the sexual harassment allegations that led to his resignation as governor in 2021. The debate was the candidates' best and possibly last chance to grab attention ahead of the start of early voting on Saturday. The primary will be held June 24. Here are five takeaways from the debate. Ganging up on Cuomo Mr. Cuomo is still clearly viewed as the front-runner based on the attacks he faced from his rivals. Several of the candidates mentioned the sexual harassment allegations, which he denied. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.


CNN
14 minutes ago
- CNN
Analysis: Trump didn't want Israel to strike Iran. They did it anyway
In the hours before Israeli warplanes carried out an attack on Iran early Friday, raising fresh fears of all-out war in the region, President Donald Trump made clear it was an outcome he hoped to avoid. 'I don't want them going in because, I mean, that would blow it,' he said, referring to his diplomatic efforts to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions. The fact Israel went in anyway – without any US involvement, and against the president's publicly stated wishes – now thrusts Trump into one of the biggest tests of his young presidency. By his own telling, the strikes risk scuttling his attempts at diplomacy with Tehran, even as his top envoy was preparing to depart for Oman for another round of talks this weekend. It casts a pall over his already tense relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he has sharply disagreed for months and whom he urged as recently as this week to hold off on a strike. And it presents him another global conflict without any easy resolution, this one with tens of thousands of US troops potentially caught in the regional crossfire. Trump will now find himself caught between competing crosscurrents from within his own party. Many Republicans were quick to offer their support to Israel on Thursday, including Sen. Lindsey Graham – a longtime Iran hawk – who wrote on X: 'Game on.' Yet Trump has never quite adopted that strain of his party's foreign policy, particularly in his second term. His administration is stacked with officials, starting with his vice president, who take a deeply skeptical view of US military involvement abroad without express American interests on the line. Trump offered no signals in the immediate aftermath of the attacks that he was prepared to use American military assets to help defend Israel from expected Iranian reprisal, as his predecessor Joe Biden did when Israel and Iran exchanged fire last year. Without American assistance, Israel's air defenses could be unable to withstand a major Iranian onslaught. The focus of public messaging from the US administration was instead on protecting American personnel in the Middle East, and warning Iran not to drag the US into the fray. Still, for all the complicated dynamics for Trump to now sort through, the attack hardly came as a surprise to the president and his team. Even as he was speaking from the East Room on Thursday, the president and his aides were aware the strikes were likely coming soon, sources said, despite Trump's repeated attempts at urging Netanyahu to hold off. As the strikes were getting underway, Trump was appearing on the South Lawn at a congressional picnic. He returned to the West Wing afterward to huddle with top officials, according to a White House official and other sources. Afterward, a terse statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to put distance between the US and any role in the attack. 'Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,' read the statement, which was distributed by the White House. 'Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense. President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners,' Rubio continue. 'Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel.' Devoid of even boilerplate language offering support for Israel and its defense, the statement made clear: this would be Israel's conflict, not Trump's.