Watch live: Biden meets with ‘Tennessee 3’ state Reps. Justin Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson
Justin Pearson, Gloria Johnson and Justin Jones raise their fists in solidarity at a rally to support of Pearson on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 in Memphis, Tenn. A Shelby County Board of Commissioners committee approved a resolution Wednesday morning that clears the way for an afternoon vote by the full commission on whether Pearson will get his seat back. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian via AP)
President Biden on Monday is welcoming to the White House Tennessee state representatives Justin Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson, who came to national attention after their protest against gun violence led to attempts by some in their own statehouse to remove them from office — all unsuccessful in the end.
The Republican-led Tennessee legislature voted in favor of expelling Jones and Pearson, and came close to expelling Johnson as well. All three are Democrats. But Jones’s and Pearson’s constituents promptly sent them back to Nashville to fill their own vacant seats. Although Johnson remained in office, she made clear her solidarity with the others in the “Tennessee Three.”
The state lawmakers had led a loud protest on the House floor, disobeying the body’s rules, in reaction to the mass killing at Nashville’s Covenant School. Biden decried the Tennessee legislature’s retaliation against the three.
The event is slated to begin at 3:15 p.m. ET.
Watch the live video above.