U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris leads a session of the President's online COVID Summit inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington, U.S. (Photo : REUTERS/Tom Brenner)
Vice President Kamala Harris will make an unexpected visit to Nashville on Friday to advocate for gun control and meet with two Tennessee Democratic lawmakers who were expelled from the General Assembly after protesting for gun reform on the statehouse floor.
The impromptu trip follows the Tennessee House Republicans' decision on Thursday to expel Reps. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) and Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) in a move that garnered national attention on gun control and race issues and received criticism from President Joe Biden.
The two Black lawmakers, along with a third Democrat, Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), were penalized by Republicans for organizing protests with bullhorns on the House floor following a mass shooting at a Nashville private Christian school that claimed six lives. Johnson, who is white, narrowly avoided expulsion by a single vote.
In a tweet, Harris said, "Six people, including three children, were killed last week in a school shooting in Nashville. 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."
A White House official verified the trip, stating that Harris intends to visit Nashville to amplify the voices of thousands of young voters who have organized demonstrations at the Tennessee state Capitol demanding changes to gun laws but have been unable to influence the state's Republican majority.
Harris is expected to arrive on Friday afternoon and reiterate Biden's call for Congress to pass a nationwide ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. The Vice President plans to meet with the state Legislature's Democratic caucus, including Jones, Pearson, and Johnson, as well as the young people who led protests at the Tennessee Capitol.
According to the White House official, the Vice President "wants to make sure that these young people's voices are heard" and that "in the face of a very tragic event, they want action."
The "Tennessee Three" lawmakers were accused by Republican leadership of violating decorum and floor rules by speaking at the House podium on March 30 without being recognized. However, by proceeding with the expulsions, Tennessee's Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton inadvertently transformed two Democrats, who had no legislative power in a Republican supermajority, into national heroes for the political left.
In a statement, President Biden called the expulsions "shocking, undemocratic, and unprecedented," adding that "rather than debating the merits" of gun control, "these Republican lawmakers have chosen to punish, silence, and expel duly-elected representatives of the people of Tennessee."
