Newsom’s “WrestleMania” Gaffe Highlights the Very Problem He Aimed to Dismiss
In a political move that backfired, California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office attempted to mock Education Secretary Linda McMahon last week with a wrestling GIF, only to inadvertently highlight the very issue she’s championing: the protection of women in sports.
The kerfuffle began when Secretary McMahon, a vocal advocate for upholding Title IX to safeguard female athletes, warned “radical governors” like Newsom that their failure to comply could result in a loss of federal funding.
Her stance, shared on X, directly challenged Newsom: “Letting men beat women in their sport of choice is illegal and wrong. You can either stand up for women or answer to the law.”
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Newsom’s team, seemingly aiming for a viral moment, responded by sharing a 2003 wrestling clip of McMahon’s former WWE persona being physically dominated and body-slammed by a much larger male wrestler, Glenn Jacobs, known in the ring as “Kane.”
The governor’s office captioned the GIF with a snarky, “Live look at Linda’s legal claims.”
However, what was intended as a clever jab instead underscored McMahon’s core argument. The image of a woman being overpowered by a man in a competitive space, meant to humiliate, instead served as a stark visual metaphor for the concerns McMahon is raising about fairness and safety for women and girls in sports.
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Newsom’s office later doubled down, commenting, “Secretary McMahon is confusing government with her WrestleMania days — dramatic, fake, and completely divorced from reality. This won’t stick.”
But McMahon was quick to fire back. In an interview with Fox News, she expressed her surprise and disappointment.
“I think what that said is that Gavin Newsom doesn’t really take this seriously at all… He was trying to be funny on a very serious matter. We have women who are training to compete in these sports who lose scholarship and sponsorship opportunities, who get injured, who are compelled to be in dressing rooms or their intimate spaces with men, and that is absolutely unfair.”
McMahon also pointed out Newsom’s previous admission to Charlie Kirk that it is indeed unfair for women and girls to face stronger, more physically imposing males in competition.
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This attempt to score political points by mocking a cabinet official with an image of a woman being violently slammed by a man has instead amplified McMahon’s message.
As a former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment and now Education Secretary, McMahon has consistently advocated for protecting women’s spaces in sports and education, spearheading efforts to push back against redefinitions of gender that, as she states, “flout reality.”
In this political wrestling match, it appears Newsom’s office accidentally gave McMahon the ultimate spotlight, proving her point with their own ill-timed GIF. Sources
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