President-elect Donald Trump on Friday used his Truth Social platform to reveal that he wants “Peggy Schwinn” to serve as the deputy secretary of education in his new administration.
But his announcement didn’t get a passing grade, as he misstated the name of his own pick, former Tennessee Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn.
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 remained on Truth Social as of early Saturday morning.
Trump has a history of fumbling or outright forgetting names, once misspelling 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 Representative Ronny Jackson — a White House physician for part of his own first term in the Oval Office — as “Ronny Johnson.”
Trump, while on the 2024 campaign trail, memorably mixed up the names of former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi before suggesting that he “purposely” meant to “interpose” their names. (Critics noted 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 future vice presidential running mate JD Vance as “JP” and “JD Mandel,” called former President Jimmy Carter “Jimmy Connors” and used the name “Rick Gates” while talking about then-Representative Matt Gaetz.