McMahon on Steroids, PG Programming, Health Care, and Emanuel

The Hands of Linda McMahon - photo Chion Wolf

by John Dankosky – Linda McMahon, the front-runner for the Republican Senate nomination answered questions about her family’s wrestling business, campaign spending and health care on WNPR’s Where We Live Tuesday.

McMahon says she’s running as an outsider, and that means touting her business credentials as former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment.  Along with that comes questions about the company’s drug testing and wellness policy for wrestlers.  In response to criticism from author Irv Muchnick, who’s written about steroids and the WWE, McMahon said that the company suspended its drug-testing policy for a time because of competition from other wrestling organizations that weren’t testing.  She also said the WWE’s sexually suggestive and violent programming has “evolved” over an on-air run that’s longer than shows like “Lassie” and “Gunsmoke.”

“It has evolved over the years  from being TV14 – which it was on cable television…had a later-night run.  That was the edgier programming, both in content and in language.  But the broadcast portion of WWE has always been PG.  Now, all of the programming is PG, which is rated by networks, it is not rated by WWE.  So that evolution of programming content…and some of the episodes that have been referred to during this campaign, would not, today meet WWE programming standards?”  She said “You always look back and say, yeah, we would have done some things differently.”

She also touted the company’s literacy and voting initiatives for young people – while stressing that most of the viewers of this programming are over 18.

A top policy priority for McMahon would be to “repeal and replace” the just-signed health care law, which she says was rushed to meet a political deadline.

“We are going to add 30-some million people onto health care rolls, which – on the one hand – is admirable.  On the other hand, it has the potential of clogging the health care system, because we don’t have enough doctors today who are handling the treatment of medical people.”

And, McMahon answered the question of a Republican caller, concerned about her political donation to current White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.  She said the donation stemmed from a relationship with his brother.

“When he then came up the ladder in the Democratic party, I really still didn’t know who Rahm Emanuel was, but Ari called and said ‘My brother’s going to be in town and he hasn’t met you’ – this was in 2006 – ‘And he would like to meet you, and quite frankly, he’s probably going to put the arm on you again.’  So Rahm came by my offices in Stamford, and that’s when I did contribute to the DCCC.”

At the time, Emmanuel was the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and had been serving in congress since 2002.  Prior to that, he was a senior advisor to President Bill Clinton.