President Joe Biden voiced his opposition to Tennessee’s decision to expel two lawmakers, calling it “undemocratic.”
Biden issued a lengthy statement on the matter Thursday.
Opening his statement, Biden mentioned the shooting that took place at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, killing three children and three adults.
“On Monday, 7,000 Tennesseans, many of them students, marched to their state capitol to call on their lawmakers to take action and keep them safe,” Biden said.
He added, “Instead, state Republican lawmakers called votes today to expel three Democratic legislators who stood in solidarity with students and families and helped lift their voices.”
Biden called the expulsion “shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent.”
The president accused the Republicans of deciding to “punish, silence, and expel duly-elected representatives of the people of Tennessee.”
Statement from President Joe Biden on Expulsion of Tennessee Lawmakers for Acting on Gun Safetyhttps://t.co/QmrzB6Cbsr
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) April 7, 2023
According to Biden, “A strong majority of Americans want lawmakers to act on commonsense gun safety reforms that we know will save lives.”
However, he argued, “We’ve continued to see Republican officials across America double down on dangerous bills that make our schools, places of worship, and communities less safe. Our kids continue to pay the price.”
Concluding his statement, Biden urged Congress to “ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines, require safe storage of firearms, eliminate gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability, and require background checks for all gun sales, and state officials must do the same.”
Representatives Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson were expelled from the Republican-controlled Tennessee House chamber Thursday.
A two-thirds vote of the House holding 99 seats is needed for the expulsion of a member, per The New York Times.
The resolutions accused legislators of engaging in “disorderly behavior” and intentionally bringing “disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives”
Jones and Pearson will still be able to run again in special elections to be re-elected to their seats.