President-elect Donald Trump on Friday used his Truth Social platform to reveal that he wants “Peggy Schwinn,” a “former teacher,” to serve as the deputy secretary of education in his new administration.
But his announcement didn’t get a passing grade as he got the name of his own pick, former Tennessee Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn, wrong.
Trump, who praised Schwinn’s “strong record of delivering results for children and families” and pointed to her résumé, repeatedly referred to his pick as “Peggy” in the post.
“A former teacher herself, Peggy became the founding principal of a charter school, because she believes in the power of School Choice, and is committed to delivering the American Dream to the next Generation by returning Education BACK TO THE STATES,” Trump wrote.
“Congratulations to Peggy and her wonderful family!”
The post with the “Peggy” error remains on Truth Social as of early Saturday morning.
Trump has a history of fumbling or outright forgetting names as he once misspelled his own name on social media.
Last year, after questioning President Joe Biden’s mental acuity and urging him to take a cognitive test, Trump referred to Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) — the White House physician for part of his first term — as “Ronny Johnson.”
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Trump, while on the 2024 campaign trail, memorably mixed up the names of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) before declaring that he “purposefully” meant to “interpose” their names (criticsnoted that he didn’t accurately use the word “interpose” at the time).
Trump has also called officials by the wrong name as they sat next to him, referred to his soon-to-be Vice President JD Vance as “JP” and “JD Mandel,” called Jimmy Carter “Jimmy Connors” and used the name “Rick Gates” while talking about former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) at a campaign rally.