Despite being expelled from the Tennessee legislature, two Democratic state politicians were invited to the White House.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest stated that on Friday afternoon, one day after the Republican supermajority in the Tennessee House voted to expel Representatives Justin Jones of Nashville and Representative Justin Pearson of Memphis, President Joe Biden talked with both men. Knoxville Democrat Gloria Johnson was also there on the conversation. She was there at the vote that followed the noisy protest for gun restriction by the three legislators.
A White House spokesperson stated, “The president praised them for leading the charge to ban assault weapons and defending our democratic values.” Thanks to the president’s “leadership” on the matter of gun safety and for drawing attention to the bizarre and anti-democratic threats they experienced this week in the Tennessee statehouse, the officials wrote a letter of gratitude to the president.
In the near future, the president will host the three leaders in the White House, according to a presidential spokeswoman.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Nashville on Friday to meet with legislators two weeks after a former transgender student, now 28 years old, killed three children and three adults at a private Christian school called the Covenant School.
Harris’ press secretary, Kirsten Allen, has stated that after Harris’ private meeting with the Democratic leaders at Fisk University, she also convened the Democratic group in Tennessee.
The Vice President just finished up with Jones, Pearson, and Johnson of the House of Representatives individually, and is now addressing the Democratic Caucus as a whole. pic.twitter.com/tREOf786lh
Kirsten Allen (@KirstenAllen46) is the author. April 7, 2023
A vote of 72% to 25% expelled Jones from school, while a vote of 69% to 26% expelled Pearson. The suggestion put forth by Johnson was defeated by a single vote.