Democrats in Knox County issued a series of statements on social media last Tuesday which claimed Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs was “absent” during the recent winter weather because he traveled to Iowa to campaign for former President Donald Trump ahead of the state’s caucuses.
The Knox County Democrats posted to social media on Tuesday, “Why is Glenn spending more time this week with Trump, MTG, Matt Gaetz, Kari Lake, and Jim Jordan than with county employees clearing roads or at local churches hosting warming centers?”
Why is Glenn spending more time this week with Trump & MTG than with county employees clearing roads or at local churches hosting warming centers?
— Knox County Democrats (@KnoxDems) January 16, 2024
One day later, Gannett-owned Knox News reported that Jacobs was campaigning for Trump as the National Weather Service predicted six to eight inches of snow for Knox County, and the outlet declared that “Democrats in Knox County pounced on Jacobs’ absence” and claimed his support of the former president was an attempt “to climb the political ladder.”
Knox County spokesman Mike Donila told the outlet that Jacobs “spent two days in minus-6 degree temperatures doing the county’s work from 12 hours away” and was scheduled to return in time for work on January 16.
Jacobs traveled to Iowa on January 13, and spoke at the former president’s rally the following day, when the former president reminisced on Jacobs’ prior employment as a WWE wrestler and suggested he could run for governor of Tennessee.
Trump declared Jacobs has “done a fantastic job as mayor [in] Tennessee” and announced, “I have thoughts that maybe you’re going to run for governor of Tennessee sometime because you have done a great job and you’re very popular.”
Shortly after Jacobs traveled to Iowa to campaign with the former president, drawing the ire of Democrats, Metro Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell traveled to Washington, D.C. to attend a White House event with President Joe Biden.
O’Connell was photographed standing feet away from the podium where Biden spoke during a bipartisan conference of mayors held Friday that drew mayors from around the country.
Journalist Joey Garrison, who reports for Gannett-owned USA Today and formerly reported for the Gannett-owned and Nashville-based Tennessean, posted to social media after spotting O’Connell at the White House.
Hey, look at that. There’s new Nashville Mayor @freddieoconnell at the White House with @POTUS and other mayors. pic.twitter.com/1JUboG6wfw
— Joey Garrison (@joeygarrison) January 19, 2024
After the Knox News article about Jacobs was published, Knox County Secretary Debbie Helsley claimed in a statement that Jacobs was “an absent leader” and that “Knox County deserves a real leader.”
Neither Knox News nor The Tennessean appear to have run similar news stories about O’Connell’s decision to leave Nashville amid the winter weather.
Knox County received about 9 inches of snow during the recent storm, while a similar 7.6 inches of snow were recorded in Nashville.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News, and also reports for The Tennessee Star and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
