Glenn Jacobs, the Republican mayor of Knox County, Tennessee and a professional WWE wrestler known by the ring name Kane, showed he's got plenty of moves in the political arena as well with a scathing letter to President Joe Biden stating that his county "will not comply" with the coming federal vaccine mandate.
As a part of his six-pronged attempt to tame the spread of the Delta variant, Biden last week announced the coming imposition of a vaccine or weekly testing requirement for employees of U.S. corporations with more than 100 employees, to be implemented and enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
While the Republican National Committee (RNC) and plenty of Republican governors have announced lawsuits challenging Biden's measure as unconstitutional, only a handful of local leaders - including Anchorage, Alaska Mayor Dave Bronson and Livingston County, Michigan Commissioner Mitchell Zajachave - have stated their intentions to not comply if it's implemented.
Jacobs, however, brings a high-profile punch to the push-back because of his longtime role as the legendary WWE wrestling villain Kane.
"Dear President Biden," the letter begins. "I am writing regarding your impending executive order mandating that all businesses with 100 or more employees require COVID-19 vaccines for workers or implement weekly testing. Knox County will not comply with your mandate."
As the chief executive of an organization that employs 2,700 individuals, your action adds financial, legal, and regulatory burdens that will ultimately impact Knox County taxpayers. In addition, it potentially hinders our ability to attract quality employees since many folks in our community will not work somewhere that unjustly imposes vaccine mandates.
As a fellow elected official who has sworn an oath to uphold the US Constitution just as you have, I am alarmed by the alacrity with which you issued this order, contradicting both Article 1, Section I-which vests legislative power in the Congress-and the Tenth Amendment-which recognizes the sovereignty of the states or the people over matters the Constitution does not delegate to the federal government.
It would be one thing if you were ignorant of these abuses, but, incredibly, your own Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, retweeted the following: "OSHA doing this vaxx mandate as an emergency workplace safety rule is the ultimate work-around for the Federal govt to require vaccinations." Instead of humbly contemplating the implications of trampling constitutional process, your top aide is gloating like the cat who ate the canary.
Mr. President, if we, as elected officials, ignore, disregard, and contravene the laws which bind us, how can we expect our fellow citizens to respect and follow the laws which bind all of us as a society?
My letter to President Biden regarding his executive order on vaccine mandates.
— Glenn Jacobs (@GlennJacobsTN) September 17, 2021
I believe @POTUS has overstepped his constitutional authority and will stand against his egregious executive overreach. pic.twitter.com/kfYxBQmo21
The Knox County mayor concluded by criticizing Biden's statement about the mandate not being "about freedom or personal choice."
"On the contrary, in America, it is always about freedom," he wrote. "In Knox County, we know what we stand for. We stand for freedom. We stand for the rule of law. We stand for the Constitution. And you can rest assured that we will stand against your blatant and egregious executive overreach."
In a statement to Townhall, Jacobs said: "It is not only the responsibility but the duty of elected officials at all levels of government to speak out against such government power grabs and remind everyone that such actions do nothing but erode our freedoms and hinder our economy."
The libertarian-leaning Jacobs, who is set to be inducted into the WWE hall of fame as a part of the class of 2021, was elected mayor of Knox County, Tennessee in 2018.