Emotional congressman says he told the Tennessee GOP Speaker expulsion was a mistake
Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen (D) confessed that he has been very emotional watching what's happening in his state as Republicans sought to expel three Democrats for protesting on the House floor against gun violence.
"It pains me, almost brings me to tears to see what is happening," Cohen said with his voice cracking. "This is a disgrace upon the legislative process to see what is happening. This is a disgrace upon the General Assembly and a disgrace to the state of Tennessee."
Cohen said that it's clear that the three Democrats broke the rules, but he noted that he joined the late Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) in an anti-gun protest on the U.S. House floor where they held the floor for a number of hours. Republicans didn't do anything.
"I would not have done what they did, but there is a different time and a different place and a different history," Cohen explained. "It was in light of the school at Covenant Presbyterian Christian School. I wrote him [the Speaker] to give a lesser punishment. They could do a censure, they could do something with committees, but they do not need to disenfranchise these three individuals. They have been elected they will cause special elections to be held in each district. Two elections, a primary, and a general, which is six elections, which is an expensive cost to taxpayers. They don't care."
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"This is power run amok," Cohen continued. "They're drowning in their power. And they're not thinking of their results. They're making these three people heroes... because they're speaking up for what they believe. ... And after what happened at Covenant, we don't need any more thoughts and prayers."
MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace stepped in to cite Cohen's comment that he wouldn't have broken the rules.
"Congressman, you said you would not have broken the rules when legislated out of having a voice or the ability to speak or the ability to give both the ability to give voice to all of your constituents before the victims of the mass shooting could be buried, what would you have done?" she asked.
Cohen said that when he was in the legislature that there were lawmakers who didn't like him, so on a day that his bills were being voted on they expelled him from the floor because he didn't have a tie on.
He went on to say that he served 25 years in the Capitol and that he is "most embarrassed" by what is happening.
My service "has been disgraced today, totally disgraced, and it is akin to a legislative lynching and the fact that there were two African Americans and a woman and I know Gloria Johnson has been a fighter and a rebel in Knoxville and on the floor of the house, she speaks her mind. I know Justin Pierson, and he was my intern, and I supported him this year. He had a wholesome manner. He's a star. He is a young Barack Obama. He's got great speaking ability.
"I never had known about Justin Jones. He was phenomenal, but he has been an activist in the community they are not in favor of. The people there picking on a perfect foil for them in their districts who do not have Black representation and probably do not have women and if they have women, they don't have feminist women, truth speaking, women like Gloria Johnson so they're perfect foils for them, and so these legislators have no concern."
See the interview below or at the link here.
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