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Tennessee mayor and former WWE star Glenn Jacobs -- formerly known as Kane-- said on Monday's "Fox News Rundown" podcast that the overall response to the coronavirus pandemic, including broad lockdowns by many governors, has been "extremely troubling" to watch.
Jacobs, a Republican who won the 2018 race for mayor in Tennessee’s third-largest county, Knox, said there is nothing in the U.S. or his state's Constitution that would allow for many of the restrictions.
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"We talk about public safety, but the issue is that when the government says something is an emergency. and we can do anything. Then all that has to happen is, you have an emergency. And that's extremely troubling to me and it should be challenged by the people as well," said Jacobs, lamenting that many state leaders are not trusting the people to live their lives and be safe.
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Instead, he said they "decided that they have to tell people what to do and that's not their job. And frankly, I don't think that they have that authority."
"No politician gets up there and says, 'eHy, we're going to take all your freedoms.' What they do is they say, 'well, you know, we have to assume some of these responsibilities.' And when we look around through history and around the world, that's generally what happens, especially in democratic societies."
The former champ, who spent about 20 years in professional wrestling and won several world titles, also reacted to the WWE continuing with events in empty arenas amid the pandemic.
"I think it's the right decision because right now there's just not that much available in the realm of live entertainment. But I think that it gives people a distraction and something else to think about and I think that's important. I think WWE handled that in a responsible way," said Jacobs, adding that not having fans takes away an important part of the show for the performers.
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One of WWE's biggest stars, Roman Reigns, decided not to appear at the events, since he's a cancer survivor and has young children at home. Jacobs said he understands the decision by the fellow former WWE heavyweight champion.
"You need to walk a mile in someone's shoes before you judge on that. So certainly in this situation, he did the right thing for him," he said.
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