Triple H apparently had people trying to bait him into losing his cool around Donald Trump’s first inauguration. Stephanie McMahon says cameras were already out, but her husband never gave them the reaction they were looking for.
While speaking on her What’s Your Story? podcast, Stephanie remembered being in Washington with Triple H when Trump was first elected. Linda McMahon was entering the administration as head of the Small Business Administration, giving the couple an opportunity to attend the inauguration.
“It’s crazy. So we were, um, Paul and I were at the train station, um, when Trump was first elected. And we were there. You know, my mom was the head of Small Business Administration.”
Attending the inauguration was obviously a pretty unusual experience, but Stephanie and Triple H weren’t exactly traveling around as members of the incoming administration. Once everything wrapped up, they were simply sitting in a packed train station waiting to leave.
“So, you know, and we had—it was incredible, right? So the opportunity to be there for the inauguration. Because we were, um, you know, just waiting and everything was so crazy and busy, and we’re certainly not a part of the Cabinet. So we’re, you know, we’re just waiting.”
That’s when Stephanie noticed people at a nearby table paying attention to them. Triple H had been recognized, and according to Stephanie, those people also knew about Linda’s connection to Trump and weren’t happy about it.
“And there were people at a nearby table just trying to incite us because they recognize, of course, my husband and, you know, they were against my mom and just anything to do with the administration.”
Stephanie believes they weren’t simply making their feelings known either. She says they were deliberately trying to get Triple H angry, with people already holding their phones out and apparently waiting to capture whatever reaction they could get from him.
“So they were really trying to incite him to get mad. And everybody had their cameras out.”
Triple H never gave them that moment. Nothing actually happened between the two sides, but Stephanie remembered being very aware of how tense everything felt while it was unfolding.
“And luckily nothing happened, but I could feel how—yeah—the tension.”
The conversation eventually moved into politics more broadly, with Stephanie admitting that it’s a subject she generally tries to stay away from publicly. Despite her family’s obvious political connections, she said she doesn’t have much interest in turning conversations into political arguments.
“And the thing is, like, I, you know, I don’t—I don’t really talk politics, you know, much, you know, and—”
That applies to her podcast too. Stephanie said she’s had guests whose political views can be completely opposed to positions associated with her family, but she doesn’t use the show to fight with them about it.
“Yeah. And I respect everybody’s opinion, you know, like, I really do. And we have guests, some who are very anti, but it’s never—it’s not a political show. Right. So we don’t really talk about that.”
For Stephanie, people having completely different ideas about what they want for the country isn’t necessarily the problem. She believes a bigger issue is that people stop communicating with each other once those differences appear.
“But everyone has their own opinions and perspectives on, yeah, you know, what they want for this country. It’s so tough because there’s just a lack of communication.”
She connected that idea back to another story Zito had told about initially clashing with someone at a cafe. Once the two actually sat down and talked for a few minutes, Stephanie pointed out that those preconceived ideas started disappearing pretty quickly.
“Sit down. Right. He had preconceived notions about you. Yeah. And 10 to 15 minute conversation, you guys got to know each other a little bit. You didn’t wanna kill him anymore. And he, you know, like, and then you guys became like—you were invited every night.”
Triple H apparently never needed that conversation at the train station because he simply didn’t take the bait. People recognized him, connected him to Linda McMahon and the incoming Trump administration, and according to Stephanie, tried to get an angry reaction while cameras were ready. Instead, everyone eventually walked away without the situation becoming anything more than an uncomfortable few minutes.
What do you make of Stephanie McMahon’s story about people trying to provoke Triple H after Trump’s first inauguration? Let us know in the comments below.
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