The expulsion of two Tennessee House of Representatives last over a gun violence protest on the House floor last week showcased what most assumed to be part of America’s troubled past.
But far from being an outlier, the case that shocked the conscience of those who care about democracy around the world is part of a growing trend, according to a report that aired Tuesday night on MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes.
Guest host Ali Velshi cited calls to impeach newly elected Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz among several examples of far-right groups with autocratic tendencies flexing their growing political muscle in state government throughout the country.
“There's no other way to put it. Authoritarianism is ascendant in the Republican Party and state legislatures are leading that charge,” Velshi said.
Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones, who was reinstated Monday after being expelled last week over the gun violence protest, issued a warning before his colleagues voted to oust him.
“It will signal to the nation that if it could happen here in Tennessee, it's coming to your state next and that is why the nation is watching us, what we do here,” he said.
It may already be happening in a statehouse near you.
“Some of these stories go underreported, because local news has been on the decline for years, slowly bled to death by a lack of funding, or rated for parts by venture capitalists.” Velshi said.
“A lot of the stuff just flies under the radar. We all know when Marjorie Taylor greater Matt Gaetz says something ridiculous and offensive because Capitol Hill is full of reporters.”
And far-right groups are thriving without scrutiny, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler said.
“One of the stunning things about politics today is that when you just accurately describe what Republicans are trying to do in state houses in Wisconsin across the country, voters initially think that it must be a lie, because they can't imagine that anyone would try to get away with a power grab is so brazen and extreme,” Wikler said.
He noted the Wisconsin Supreme Court race in which a Democrat won decisively in a state where elections are typically decided by razor-thin margins.
“Eventually it sank in for folks that Republicans were trying to, on the one hand, rip away their reproductive freedom and on the other hand, smash democracy so badly that voters would have no ability to fight back against it,” he said.
“Their only path for voters to take back control over their own bodies over their democracy was to win the Supreme Court race, and that's exactly what they did by a landslide.
“But frankly, if it hadn't been for this opportunity, we would have been stuck in a doom loop that could have lasted for decades.”
