The Democratic state lawmaker who was expelled from the Republican-controlled Tennessee House of Representatives and defiantly reinstalled Monday says he had an awkward elevator encounter with one of his Republican opponents.
Speaking to both CNN and Rachel Maddow on Monday night, Rep. Justin Jones revealed his first interaction with one of the Republican lawmakers who voted to expel him last week after a dramatic day which saw Jones, along with Reps. Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson, charged over violating “decorum.”
The trio, dubbed the “Tennessee Three,” had made a stand for gun control on the House floor and Jones and Pearson–both whom are Black–were expelled, while Jones–who is white–survived by one vote.
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Jones revealed he had a brief encounter with one of the three GOP state representatives who filed a resolution on April 3 to formally expel the three reps: Tennessee Republican Bud Hulsey.
“I actually happened to be in the elevator with the Representative Bud Hulsey, who filed the resolution to expel me,” Jones told CNN, adding that he had asked him, “Did you learn anything from this experience?”
The reply, according to Jones, was to shift the blame, with Hulsey reportedly claiming the move was “part of leadership’s decision” and that Hulsey was asked because he is the chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee.
After that, the elevator was “very quiet,” Jones said.
“I think the Republicans are in a point of reflection here in Tennessee,” Jones said, while calling for the resignation of Speaker of the House, Cameron Sexton, who had earlier claimed the three Dem Reps had tried to “incite riots or violence.”
Jones called Sexton “an enemy of democracy,” while telling Rachel Maddow he will continue to push for gun reform and that Republican leadership was “drunk and arrogant on power.”
“This is a new day, a new time in Tenneessee."
