DeSantis Defends WWE Move: We’re Watching Reruns

The Tampa Bay Times reports:

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday defended declaring professional wrestling an essential service and raised the possibility of holding other televised sporting events in empty venues as people shelter at home amid the coronavirus pandemic.

DeSantis said people are “starved” for new entertainment, a day after it was reported he gave the green light to the wrestling giant WWE as an essential business to tape events in Orlando. “I think if NASCAR does a race and can televise it without having a large crowd, I think that’s a good thing,” DeSantis told reporters at the Capitol.

“People are chomping at the bit,” he added. “If you think about it, we have never had a period like this in modern American history where you’ve had so little new content, particularly in the sporting realm. I mean, we are watching reruns from like the early 2000s.”

The WWE is owned by a major Trump backer. His wife is a former Trump cabinet member and the head of a pro-Trump super PAC that just announced a $26 million Florida ad buy.