The decision by Tennessee Republicans to expel two Democratic lawmakers over their protests following a mass school shooting may have backfired, turning the ousted state leaders into political martyrs and giving them a bigger national platform to air their grievances.
State Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were kicked out of the state legislature on Thursday in a move that drew widespread condemnation, outrage, and accusations of racism across the country.
DEMOCRATS RALLY AROUND TENNESSEE LAWMAKERS AFTER EXPULSION FOR GUN PROTEST
GOP leaders said the move was necessary after the two black lawmakers staged a protest for gun control on the House floor and led chants with a bullhorn.
A third Democratic lawmaker, state Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white, also participated in the demonstration but survived an expulsion vote.
What followed after the trio of votes was wall-to-wall coverage on television, headlines in national newspapers, and even condemnation from the White House.
“Today’s expulsion of lawmakers who engaged in peaceful protests is shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent,” President Joe Biden said. “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 on Friday invited the ousted legislators to the White House.
The Congressional Black Caucus, as well as former President Barack Obama, also weighed in on the controversy, calling it a “sign of weakness, not strength” and said it “won’t lead to progress.”
One Republican strategist called the expulsion “a disaster.”
“This went from a Nashville news story to a national outrage,” he told the Washington Examiner, while Democratic strategist Brad Bannon called the GOP’s move “ham-handed.”
“They made themselves look like fools, they accentuated it by kicking out two African-American legislators and not the white woman, and it’s already backfired,” he said. “[Jones and Pearson] are basically martyrs for the cause now, the fight against gun violence. This is symptomatic of the GOP playing to its hardcore conservative base and not knowing a wit about how swing voters will react to these extreme actions.”
House GOP Speaker Rep. Cameron Sexton pushed back against allegations of racism and defended the decision made.
“In my house on the floor, since I’m speaker, we have rules, we have decorum, we have a process, we have procedures,” he said.
Jones has already vowed on national television to do whatever it takes to return to his post.
“This extreme tactic to expel us and try to humiliate us has only put a spotlight of the world on Tennessee, and so I will go back because it’s worth whatever sacrifice that we have to give, whether it’s being expelled, whether it’s being in a hostile environment,” he told CNN Friday.
Jones, 27, and Pearson, 28, are two of the state’s youngest lawmakers.
According to his website, Jones has been involved in several demonstrations at the state’s capital and has “fought for justice since childhood.” At Fisk University, a historically black college in Nashville, he campaigned to repeal the state’s restrictive voter ID laws and expand Medicaid.
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Pearson has also been an outspoken advocate for numerous causes and gained attention for stopping an oil pipeline project planned for his neighborhood. When he was a sophomore in high school, he demanded the board of education provide issued textbooks to him and his classmates at Mitchell High School. After his complaint to the board, the books were “found” the following day sitting in storage. His actions led to his principal being reprimanded and forced other school leaders across the city to prove to district officials they were handing out textbooks.
“Justin Pearson may have been without a government textbook for the first 11 weeks of school, but he has learned one thing about democracies: Embarrassing elected officials in public meetings gets action,” the Commercial Appeal wrote about the then-15-year-old.
