Opinion | Trump wants Linda McMahon to lead the command of his war on universities

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

65% : During the campaign, Trump released a video laying out his plan to "reclaim our once-great educational institutions from the radical left."
64% : But the real focus in the new Trump administration will be higher education.
60% : (Trump, of course, disavowed Project 2025, but since the election, those around him have embraced it.)
59% : In the past, McMahon has promoted private school vouchers that drain money from public schools, and she will surely do so again.
59% : For decades, demonizing higher education has been a favorite tactic for Republicans.
57% : A 2023 report from the American Association of University Professors called DeSantis' efforts "a politically and ideologically driven assault unparalleled in US history, which, if sustained, threatens the very survival of meaningful higher education in the state.
52% : We are now in an age of education polarization; in 2020, Joe Biden beat Trump among voters with college degrees by 24 points, and when the data comes in from 2024, the results will probably be similar.
51% : But axing the entire department was always unlikely -- not just because it would require congressional action, but because what Trump actually wants is more federal control over education, not less.
50% : "I will fire the radical left accreditors that have allowed our colleges to become dominated by Marxist maniacs and lunatics," he said, and replace them with Trump-approved accreditors who will bring a more MAGA-friendly approach to higher education.
46% : In Vice President-elect JD Vance, Trump has an enthusiastic partner for this fight.
38% : Trump also said he would have the Justice Department target "schools that continue to engage in racial discrimination," by which he clearly meant efforts to promote diversity; his allies are planning to invert the DOJ's Civil Rights Division so it focuses on alleged anti-white racism.
33% : "Trump is essentially promising to mount the same kind of attack from Washington.
32% : When Republicans attack higher education as a cauldron of radical ideas that will turn your children against you, they not only undermine colleges and universities that are essential to America's economy and innovation, they also feed distrust in institutions as a whole that has served Trump so well.
28% : "Seizing the endowments of universities would almost certainly be illegal, but Trump is spoiling for a fight, and his "secret weapon" is a powerful threat.
22% : "While Trump and Vance are no doubt sincere in their disgust with diversity and other liberal ideas, their war on universities is driven by politics.
7% : Trump has made many threats against both K-12 and higher education; we don't know how many he'll follow up on, or how much enthusiasm Linda McMahon will bring to this fight.

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