Politics

Almost-Expelled Tennessee Rep. Gloria Johnson Rips Apart Huge Pro-Gun ‘Argument’

THE NEW ABNORMAL

Tennessee House Rep. Gloria Johnson joins The New Abnormal podcast to talk gun control, her colleagues’ glaring racism, and a sad encounter with a third grader.

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Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Reuters/Getty

Tennessee House Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) came close to joining her two colleagues, Reps. Justin Jones (Nashville) and Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), in expulsion from the governing body after protesting gun violence following the shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville. But she’s not backing down.

Rep. Johnson joined Danielle Moodie, co-host of The New Abnormal politics podcast, on this episode of the show to talk about what the last few weeks have been like, a heartbreaking interaction she had with a third-grade Girl Scout about gun control, and a rebuttal to one of the biggest pro-gun “arguments” there is.

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“They continually talk about, ‘Oh, well, criminals will get guns anyway.’ We're a law-making body. I mean, why not have that attitude when it comes to robbery [then]? Criminals are just gonna rob people, so why have laws about it? Well, you have laws so people can get consequences,” she says. “To act as if that is some sort of defense is so lazy and disingenuine.”

She also breaks down the obviously manipulated way that Nashville’s districts have been gerrymandered—which Danielle describes as “a pretzel factory in terms of the way that they have drawn”—and has an eye-opening response, and a scathing indictment of the Tennessee legislature, when asked if she believes that racism played a role in sparing her from her Black colleagues’ fates of expulsion. (They've since rejoined.)

Then, CNN’s S.E. Cupp joins co-host Andy Levy to explain why Tucker Carlson’s exit from Fox News has zero chance of changing the insidious ways of the media company. The two also make educated predictions on who Carlson’s replacement is likely to be.

Plus! Andy and Danielle discuss Trump’s vile new low with a COVID lie as well as what Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is whining about now.

Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.

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