White Tennessee state Republicans fought over whether to expel a white Democrat lawmaker, Rep. Gloria Johnson, after quickly expelling Black Democrat lawmakers Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson in leaked audio published by The Tennessee Holler.
The Tennessean reports that Republican white lawmaker Rep. Jason Zachary was furious at Reps. Jody Barrett and Bryan Terry for voting against Rep. Johnson’s expulsion:
Dear God, we were called — you brought racism into it because you didn’t stay with us. I don’t want to hear why there wasn’t preponderance of the evidence as an attorney — I need to know why you flipped your vote at the last minute.
House Majority Whip Johnny Garrett was furious at Barrett for requesting to ask questions of Johnson: “as if that would have made a difference.” Garrett practically admitted the fix was in:
We had the jury already. This obviously wasn’t a trial — but I knew every single one of your vote counts. I knew that we did not have to convince you all. When you came up to me with about two minutes left of Gloria’s final closing and said you didn’t want to do it, I was shocked.
Barrett defended his vote, arguing that Republicans had failed to prove claims against Johnson:
I know what she did. I know that she did break the rules. I know that she deserved to be expelled, but we’ve got to do it right, and that wasn’t right. I went back to my desk. I sat there and had my internal debate on what to do. The bell rings, I am concerned that I am going to vote yes on a resolution I know is wrong.
Republican Rep. Scott Cepicky admitted people had to vote against had to vote for what they thought was wrong because of the Republican Party:
You’ve got to do what’s right — even if you think it might be wrong — you’ve got to do what’s right. You’ve got to protect this freaking republic here in Tennessee, or you know what, let’s all go the hell home.
(Sources: The Tennessee Holler/Twitter, The Tennessean via Yahoo,)