When it comes to celebrities getting into politics, they often bite off more than they can chew.
Take Donald Trump, for instance. Prior to announcing his campaign for president in 2015, he was a political outsider with zero governing experience. Many criticized him for his lack of experience, stacking him up with his opponent, Hillary Clinton, whom many regarded as being the most qualified candidate ever to run for president.
We all know how that worked out. Political experience is often overrated. Many times, experience doesn’t translate to success in political office down the road.
In many ways, rapper Kanye West feels that he can just run for president in 2024 because it worked out so well for Trump.
To quote one of his songs, “You need to pump the brakes and drive slow, homie.”
For some celebrities, starting off small is the responsible way of getting some governing experience under your belt — or in the case of former WWE wrestler Kane, your heavyweight championship belt.
On Tuesday, Kane, also known by his government name Glenn Jacobs, won the Republican primary for mayor of Knox County, Tenn.
And he won by 17 votes in a primary election where over 40,000 votes were cast between three different Republican candidates. Jacobs earned 14,633 votes, while his opponent, Brad Anders, received 14,616 votes.
Jacobs is the obvious favorite facing off Democratic nominee Linda Haney in a deep red county.
Now, Kanye and Kane are two very different types of celebrities. Kanye has always been very outspoken with his thoughts, no matter how smart or ignorant they are. Meanwhile, Kane has, throughout his career, always been somewhat of an enigma. He wore a mask through much of it, and rarely spoke when he had to deliver a promo. Instead, he just kicked ass in the ring, dishing out chokeslams and high kicks to the face.
Running for a smaller office might be beneath someone of Kanye’s stature. After all, Kanye is a mega-celebrity who can’t be seen on the streets without the papparazzi following him, and you probably couldn’t recognize Kane if you saw him on the street.
With that being said, Kanye should take note of what Jacobs is doing: you don’t always have to run for president if you’re a celebrity.
