Democrat lawmaker suggests she avoided expulsion from Tennessee legislature because she is White

A Democrat lawmaker in Tennessee who survived a vote to expel her from the state legislature on Thursday attributed her survival to the color of her skin.

The motion to expel Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is White, fell just one vote short after the motion to expel her Democrat colleague Rep. Justin Jones, who is Black and Filipino, reached the necessary threshold to remove him. Another Democrat, Rep. Justin Pearson, who is also Black, was expelled in a third vote.

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The three faced expulsion following their roles in a protest calling for gun control after last week’s shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville, that killed six people, including three children. 

Following the failed vote to expel Johnson, she was asked by a reporter why she was not expelled when Jones was.

“It might have to do with the color of our skin,” she responded.

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Thursday’s votes against Jones and Pearson marked an extraordinary move from lawmakers that has been executed only a handful of times since the Civil War. Most state legislatures possess the power to expel members, but it is normally reserved as a punishment for lawmakers accused of serious misconduct.

Prior to the votes, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the expected expulsions “shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent.” 

Fox News’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.