President Biden on Monday met with the “Tennessee Three” who faced expulsion by state House Republicans in Nashville for protesting in the wake of a mass shooting at a Christian school, capping the Democratic trio’s rise from obscurity and giving them a platform to call for tighter gun laws.
Mr. Biden sat down with state Reps. Justin Jones of Nashville, Justin Pearson of Memphis and Gloria Johnson of Knoxville in the Oval Office and discussed democratic values and a ban on military-style weapons.
“You’re standing up for our kids, you’re standing up for our communities,” Mr. Biden told the Tennessee lawmakers during the meeting. “What the Republican legislature did was shocking. It was undemocratic.”
State Republican lawmakers expelled Mr. Jones and Mr. Pearson, who are Black, from the General Assembly for protesting on the House floor in the wake of the March 27 shooting that killed three adults and three children at The Covenant School, a private Christian institution. Ms. Johnson, who is White, avoided expulsion by one vote.
They were upset about the lack of state action on gun laws after the tragedy.
“It was undemocratic when they were expelled and essentially ousted out of their seats,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday. “What you’ll see is the president sitting down with these three legislators, having a conversation on how to move forward with common sense gun reform.”
She said, “He will hear them out, and he looks forward to having that conversation.”
The episode raised the relatively obscure lawmakers’ profile and made them heroes to the political left in Tennessee, a reliably red state. Mr. Jones and Mr. Pearson were swiftly reappointed to their seats.
The White House provided an even bigger stage for the trio.
Mr. Biden continues to call on Congress to ban assault weapons in the wake of mass shootings, but congressional Republicans say they want to consider other measures that crack down on bad actors instead of lawful gun owners.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, has called for a special session in Nashville to debate measures allowing authorities to temporarily seize weapons from persons considered a danger to themselves or others.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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