Trump says he would have fired McConnell challenger for LinkedIn page

Donald Trump, the billionaire real estate magnate, has joined the chorus criticizing Senate Kentucky candidate Matt Bevin for apparently lying on his online resume. 

{mosads}Trump warned Bevin, who is challenging Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in the Kentucky primary, that he would have fired him for claiming educational ties to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

“As someone well versed in job creation and the Private Sector, if you lie on your resume, You’re Fired!” Trump wrote Tuesday afternoon in a tweet directed at Bevin.

Bevin retorted that voters should fire McConnell because of his track record in Congress.

“@MattBevin: @realDonaldTrump If McConnell votes for Wall St. bailout, tax increases, amnesty, & pay raises, he should be fired. #kysen #firemitch,” he tweeted in response.

MIT has disputed that Bevin graduated from any program formally affiliated with the top-notch school, despite the candidate’s apparent claim on his LinkedIn profile earlier this year.

Trump’s salvo came hours after McConnell launched a six-figure television ad slamming Bevin for claiming on LinkedIn that he earned a master’s degree at MIT.

“Newspapers say Bevin was dishonest about his resume, claiming he graduated from prestigious MIT. Not true again,” a narrator intones on McConnell’s ad.

The Hill first reported in March that Bevin had overstated his affiliation with MIT on his online profile.

At the time, Bevin listed his education as MIT in the headline section of his LinkedIn profile.

Further down his page, Bevin listed MIT at the top of his educational profile.

He stated he was a 2008 graduate of the Entrepreneurial Masters Program at the MIT Endicott campus, describing it as a “renowned executive education program sponsored by the MIT Enterprise Inc. Magazine and the Entrepreneurs Organization.”

The LinkedIn presentation was misleading because it suggested Bevin graduated from an MIT-affiliated program, even though MIT officials said the program had no connection to the school.

Kate Anderson, the director of marketing and enrollment at MIT’s Sloan Executive Education program told The Hill in March that the program Bevin cited “is not an official program offered by MIT, MIT Sloan or MIT Sloan Executive Education.”

“It is not a masters program, certificate or any other kind of MIT program and does not bear any MIT credit whatsoever,” she said in March.

Bevin never responded to The Hill about what appeared to be a misleading portrayal of his educational background, but he immediately revised his page to reflect he did not graduate from MIT or an MIT-affiliated program.