Featured Image Credit: Bloomberg / Contributor via Getty
There's more embarrassment for the Trump administration, and this time, it's the Secretary of Education being brutally roasted online. The current administration's harshest critics have claimed that they're 'incompetent', and unfortunately, the latest incident isn't doing anything to put those fears to bed.
President Donald Trump has faced a barrage of complaints about how his staffers are doing, like when Elon Musk wrongly confused Gaza with Mozambique, one journalist was added to a Signal group revealing secret war plans, and the official White House X account seemingly comparing the POTUS to a villainous Sith Lord from Star Wars.
Now, Education Secretary Linda McMahon is being mocked for confusing artificial intelligence with a brand of steak sauce.
Speaking at the ASU+GSV Summit that focuses on educational innovation, the former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) CEO said: "You know, AI development – I mean, how can we educate at the speed of light if we don't have the best technology around to do that?"
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Although she originally got the acronym correct, she continued to say: "A school system that's going to start making sure that first graders, or even pre-Ks, have A1 teaching in every year. That's a wonderful thing!"
"Kids are sponges. They just absorb everything. It wasn't all that long ago that it was, 'We're going to have internet in our schools!' Now let's see A1 and how can that be helpful."
A1 sauce wasted no time in capitalizing on the blunder, with its Instagram account sharing a post that read: "You heard her. Every school should have access to A.1." A picture attached to the post says: "Agree, best to start them early."
A1 has continued to mock the situation, with a representative telling USA Today: "While ‘A.1.’ becoming the unexpected star of a panel on the future of education certainly wasn’t on our 2025 bingo card, when the moment was served up like a juicy steak, how could we not bite on it?"
"We’re thrilled at the positive reception to our response as it underscores the team’s agility and the strong collaboration with our partners."
Linda McMahon says first graders will begin having "A1" in schools.
— The Debt Collective 🟥 (@StrikeDebt) April 11, 2025
The problem is—she wasn't talking about the steak sauce. She meant "AI" as in Artificial Intelligence.
A reminder that she is the Secretary of *checks notes* Education.pic.twitter.com/v6FHqxDxVH
Others couldn't help but take a shot at McMahon, as someone on Reddit raged: "Honestly these idiots just make me fly off the f**king handle."
Another added: "And they accused Biden of having lost his mind?"
A third concluded: "If this isn’t the best example of how fucked up this presidency has been so far. She said A1 so many times like it was a common phrase. It was obvious she was just reciting words from a presentation prepared for her.
"She had absolutely no idea what she was saying. This is the best person Trump found to lead the Dept of Education. What a time to be a comedian. You can’t write jokes this good. All at the taxpayers expense."
McMahon was confirmed as the next U.S. Secretary of Education in April after she was Trump's top pick. Away from AI headaches, she faces more problems from the fact that Trump wants the Department of Education to be 'closed immediately'. Well, at least we know how she likes her steak.
