At the White House on Monday, President Joe Biden hosted the three Tennessee Democratic lawmakers who faced expulsion votes from Republicans for their role in a gun safety protest following a mass shooting at a Nashville elementary school.
"You're standing for our kids. You're standing up for our communities and democratic values. That's what it's all about," Biden said during the Oval Office sitdown alongside Vice President Kamala Harris. "What the Republican legislature did was shocking, it was undemocratic and it was without any precedent."
The trio of Democrats dubbed the “Tennessee Three” — Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, two Black lawmakers who were expelled from the body, and Gloria Johnson, a white woman who survived expulsion by one vote — "speak so well about why you're doing what you did and why you continue to do it," Biden said.
Biden used the meeting as an opportunity to tout his administration's efforts on gun control and call for further action from Congress.
"We passed the most significant gun laws that passed in 30 years, but there's more to do," Biden said, referring to laws passed last year that expanded background checks and provided funding for states to implement red flag laws.
"We must continute to lift this call up for commonsense gun laws at a nationwide level. We must lift up the call for multiracial democracy and challenge the extremism we saw in Tennessee," Jones said in a video he posted outside the White House prior to the meeting. "We're here not on behalf of ourselves, but on behalf of our constituents, on behalf of Tennesseans across the aisle, the majority of whom are calling for commonsense gun laws."
The trio of lawmakers were targeted by Republicans after they participated in a protest on the Tennessee House floor following the shooting at The Covenant School last month, which left three adults and three students, all aged 9, dead. They were accused of "bringing disorder and dishonor" to the legislature and and participating in "disorderly behavior."
"Nothing is guaranteed about democracy. Every generation has to fight for it," Biden said. "You all are doing just that."
Their expulsion by the Republican-led legislature sparked outcry from critics who blasted the action as undemocratic and thrust the lawmakers into the national spotlight. Harris traveled to Nashville to meet with the lawmakers days after the expulsion vote, and a group of Senate Democrats, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., asked the Justice Department to open up an investigation.
On Monday, Biden told lawmakers he was sorry he couldn't travel to Nashville with Harris.
“We are here because they and their colleagues … they chose to show courage in the face of an extreme tragedy,” Harris said earlier this month. “They chose to lead and show courage. To say that a democracy allows for places where the people’s voice will be heard and honored and respected.
The visit comes days after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, called for a special legislative session next month "to pass legislation that will strengthen public safety."
“After much input from members of the General Assembly and discussions with legislative leadership, we have decided to call a special session to continue our work to protect Tennessee communities and preserve constitutional rights,” Gov. Lee said in a statement Friday. “There is broad agreement that dangerous, unstable individuals who intend to harm themselves or others should not have access to weapons. We also share a strong commitment to preserving Second Amendment rights, ensuring due process and addressing the heart of the problem with strengthened mental health resources."
Lee last week appealed to lawmakers to pass an "order of protection" law – one which would temporarily block an individual from having guns if they're deemed to be a risk to themselves or others – but Republicans in the state legislature balked at the proposal.
“Tennesseans are asking us to set aside politics and personal pride,” Lee urged lawmakers last week. “They are depending on us to do the right thing.”
Jean-Pierre told reporters last week that President Biden would welcome such an action, praising states like Michigan and Washington for "taking leadership" on protecting schools and communities.
"That is something that we want to see from statehouses, from state governments to make sure that we’re doing everything that we can to protect our kids, to protect our communities," she said at Friday's press briefing
Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that Biden spoke to the lawmakers after their expulsion votes and "thanked them for their leadership in seeking to ban assault weapons and standing up for the democratic values." The Tennessee Democrats thanked Biden for his leadership on gun safety "and for spotlighting the undemocratic and unprecedented attacks on them" by the state's Republican-controlled legislature, she added.
Both Jones and Pearson were reinstated by local officials shortly after their expulsion, and they have since returned to the legislature. Both lawmakers will have to face special elections in August.