Education Secretary Linda McMahon was interrupted by circus music during her remarks to a conservative student conference.
McMahon, arguably one of President Donald Trump’s more controversial Cabinet picks, was on stage at the Young America's Foundation's annual Conservative Student Conference Wednesday when the music and other voice clips, blared out, during an apparent hack of the audio system.
As she spoke, a voice boomed from the speakers, cutting her off mid-sentence. “McMahon is a corrupt billionaire who knows nothing about education,” the voice appeared to say.
“Oh!” McMahon said, looking surprised.
McMahon, the co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment, has a roughly $3 billion net worth with her husband, professional wrestling mogul and personality, Vince McMahon, according to Forbes.
Former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, the foundation’s president who was moderating the discussion, suggested the Chinese Communist Party were responsible for the audio hack.
“The CCP didn’t like that,” Walker said, drawing a roar of laughter from the crowd. “They’re cutting into our technology.”
The Education Secretary then quipped: “We’re getting a little feedback in here.”
“I think it was a few of the liberal Senators in connection with the CCP who thought they could try and cut into that,” Walker added.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for hacking the audio system.
Five minutes later, the audio feed could still be heard in the background, although what the recording was unintelligible.
“I'm so happy we're getting to share this feed,” she said.
Walker added: “Yeah. I said it's the wonders of hacking. Apparently, in the world of free speech, these folks on campus have dealt with this before. If liberals don't like your ideas, they try and shut you down.”
Nearly 10 minutes after the first interruption, the orchestral piece, “Entrance of the Clowns”, started playing. It appeared to throw McMahon off track as she spoke about Trump and his “working style”, before she recovered and finished her remarks.
At another point, the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme song played. McMahon continued to talk over the music.
“Radicals tried to stop Secretary McMahon from being heard, just like they do to conservative voices on college campuses,” Walker told The Independent. “Our students are not deterred, nor was the Secretary. We have the truth on our side!”
Linda McMahon, who led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term, was tapped by the president to lead the Department of Education in his second administration. The National Education Association, an organization of educators with nearly 3 million members, urged the Senate to reject her nomination.
A civil lawsuit, filed in October 2024, accused the McMahons of permitting a “rampant culture of sexual abuse” at WWE. The lawsuit details abuse allegations of underage boys by ringside announcer Melvin Phillips, who died in 2012.
The case is ongoing but the McMahons and WWE filed motions for dismissal in June, and have denied the claims. Neither Vince McMahon or Linda McMahon has been criminally charged in connection with the allegations.
