Harris making unscheduled trip to Tennessee to meet with ousted Democratic lawmakers
Christian Datoc
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Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Knoxville, Tennessee, Friday to visit with two black lawmakers who were expelled from the state legislature after participating in recent anti-gun violence protests.
Tennessee House Republicans voted Thursday night to oust Democratic Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson after the pair led protests on the House floor following the deadly school shooting in Nashville. A third Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Gloria Johnson, was not voted out of the Assembly, having participated somewhat less. Johnson, who is white, claimed she was not ousted like the other two members of the “Tennessee Three” for racial reasons.
WHITE HOUSE CALLS GOP VOTE TO OUST DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS ‘SHOCKING’ AND ‘UNDEMOCRATIC’
The vice president’s office did not offer additional comment on Harris’s trip, but a White House official told USA Today that Harris “wants to make sure that these young people’s voices are heard.”
“In the face of a very tragic event, they want action,” the official said.
“Six people, including three children, were killed last week in a school shooting in Nashville,” Harris tweeted Friday ahead of her trip. “How did Republican lawmakers in Tennessee respond? By expelling their colleagues who stood with Tennesseans and said enough is enough. This is undemocratic and dangerous.”
https://twitter.com/VP/status/1644310943050997761
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre heartily criticized Tennessee Republicans at Thursday’s press briefing for their vote to oust the Democratic lawmakers.
“The fact that this vote is happening is shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent,” she told reporters. “Across Tennessee and across America, our kids are paying the price for the actions of Republican lawmakers.”
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President Joe Biden himself also used the vote to attack Republicans and reiterate his calls for Congress to reinstate a ban on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines.
“Rather than debating the merits of the issue, these Republican lawmakers have chosen to punish, silence, and expel duly-elected representatives of the people of Tennessee,” Biden wrote. “A strong majority of Americans want lawmakers to act on commonsense gun safety reforms that we know will save lives. But instead, we’ve continued to see Republican officials across America double down on dangerous bills that make our schools, places of worship, and communities less safe. Our kids continue to pay the price.”