WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday thanked three Tennessee lawmakers for “standing up” after they confronted expulsion for collaborating in gun management protests at their statehouse.
“You’re standing up for our youngsters, you’re standing up for our communities,” Biden instructed Rep. Justin Pearson, Rep. Justin Jones and Rep. Gloria Johnson throughout an Oval Workplace assembly.
Flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden described the expulsion votes as “surprising” and “undemocratic.”
“Nothing is assured about our democracy — each technology has to struggle for it,” he mentioned.
The episode has turned the lawmakers, often called the “Tennessee three,” into Democratic heroes. Harris already visited Nashville earlier this month to point out her assist.
The statehouse protest occurred days after the capturing on the Covenant Faculty, a non-public Christian college the place three youngsters and three adults had been killed. The three lawmakers — Rep. Justin Pearson, Rep. Justin Jones and Rep. Gloria Johnson — approached the entrance of the Home chamber with a bullhorn as protesters stuffed the galleries.
The Republicans who management the Tennessee legislature known as for his or her expulsion as a result of they disrupted Home proceedings. Pearson and Jones, each Black, had been expelled, whereas Johnson was not.
Pearson and Jones had been later reinstated on an interim foundation by native officers, they usually plan to run in a particular election to complete their phrases.
White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre mentioned final week that Biden was “proud” and “appreciative” to see the three state representatives calling for stronger gun restrictions, notably a ban on so-called assault weapons.
Throughout a cellphone name earlier this month, Biden thanked them “for talking out and for standing their floor, and being very clear about what’s wanted to guard their communities,” Jean-Pierre mentioned.