'Heart-wrenching and infuriating': White House rips TN Republicans trying to expel Democrats over guns
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre leveled strong criticism at the feet of Tennessee Republicans, whose Speaker of the House is moving quickly to expel three Democratic lawmakers who demonstrated support for gun violence protestors in the state Capitol after last week’s school mass shooting in Nashville where three nine-year-olds and three adults were slaughtered.
Jean-Pierre Tuesday spoke to “that horrific event of three kids and three adults essentially being murdered at school,” calling it “heart-wrenching and infuriating.”
She praised the 7000 students who “peacefully marched to the Capitol to confront their lawmakers for their failure to keep them safe at school,” and blasted Republicans for “shrugging in the face of yet another tragic school shooting while our kids continue to pay the price.”
“And what did the Republican legislators do?” she asked rhetorically. “They’re trying to expel these three Democratic legislators who joined in the protests.”
Indeed, Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton has scheduled a vote for Thursday to expel Democratic Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin Pearson, in retribution for their role in supporting the protestors.
As NCRM reported, Speaker Sexton in 2019 refused to expel a GOP state representative after credible accusations from three of his former high school students who accused him of sexual assault and misconduct while he was their coach.
Sexton declared at the time nearly the only reason he would support expulsion of a lawmaker would be after criminal indictment or conviction.
The three Democrats could be said to be “guilty” of violating House rules and decorum.
Meanwhile, Press Secretary Jean -Pierre continued, expanding her criticism by saying, “what we’re seeing from Florida to Tennessee, in the United States are Republican officials who are doubling down on dangerous bills that make our schools, places of worship, and communities less safe.”
“The President has been clear, too many lives are being ripped apart, communities are being ripped apart with this gun violence, which is an epidemic in our country,” she said. “This is why he’s taken the actions that he has these first two years and continues to have with executive action, historic executive action, and he’s going to continue to call on Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazine, require safe storage of firearms, eliminate gun manufacturers immunity from liability and require background checks for all gun sales and for state officials to take action at the state level.”
“But again, Republican legislators,” Jean-Pierre concluded, “want to play politics and not put the lives of our kids first.”
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