President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris hosted three Democratic Tennessee lawmakers at the White House on Monday. Tennessee state Reps. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, and Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, had recently faced expulsion votes in their home state for using a bull horn inside the legislative chamber while protesting for tighter gun laws.
During the meeting, which lasted about an hour in the Oval Office, the lawmakers discussed their push for stronger gun laws and their efforts to show that gun reform is possible even in a solidly Republican state like Tennessee. They have become symbols of the fight the to take away guns from Americans which has made them favorites of a president who promises to ban assault weapons.
“You’re standing up for our kids, you’re standing up for our communities. What the Republican legislature did was shocking, it was undemocratic,” Biden told the three.
Jones and Pearson, both Black lawmakers, were expelled by Tennessee Republicans this month after they broke decorum by protesting for gun control on the House floor. Johnson, on the other hand, was targeted by Republican leadership but managed to keep her seat by a single vote.
During the meeting, Jones told Biden, that “sometimes we have to do something outside of the ordinary” to produce change.
“If we can do it in the South, the South is going to set the tone for the rest of the nation,” he said. “I cannot emphasize that enough. We come from Tennessee – Tennessee, that they say is a place that is forgotten, a place that is impossible for change.”
The meeting with President Biden and Vice President Harris marks a significant moment for the lawmakers, as it demonstrates their support and recognition has reached a national level. The meeting also underscores the Biden administration’s commitment to gun reform as a priority issue, and their willingness to engage with state lawmakers who are advocating for stricter gun laws.
