Joe Biden calls expulsion of Tennessee lawmakers ‘undemocratic’

Just a day after the expulsion of the two Democrats from Republican-dominated Tennessee’s House of Representatives, US President Joe Biden criticised the move and termed the expulsion ‘undemocratic’.

Taking to Twitter, Joe Biden wrote that “Three kids and three officials gunned down in yet another mass shooting. And what are GOP officials focused on? Punishing lawmakers who joined thousands of peaceful protesters calling for action. It’s shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent.”

Jason Powell, who is a representative from Nashville in the state legislature, said just after Republican-led Tennessee House voted to expel Representative Jones, “House was spending too much time on the expulsion issue.”

He went on with his voice rising: “I had to leave here Monday night after this resolution was introduced and go to my son’s Little League field and see red ribbons surrounding the outfield in memory of William Kinney who was murdered and I am outraged, and we should all be outraged.”

“We need to do something and expelling Justin Jones is not the answer. It is a threat to democracy”, he added.

Representative Justin Pearson told CNN: “We are losing our democracy to White supremacy. We are losing our democracy to patriarchy. We are losing our democracy to people who want to keep a status quo that is damning to the rest of us and damning to our children and unborn people.”

The vote conducted on the violation of the rules for Jones split along party lines 72-25 whereas, in Pearson’s case it was 69-26. Johnson got votes 65-30.