Biden calls expulsion of Tennessee Democrats who stormed state Capitol 'undemocratic'

On Thursday, Joe Biden said the expulsion of two Tennessee Democrat lawmakers for their "disorderly behavior" related to a March 30 storming of the state Capitol from the GOP-controlled House of Representatives by a majority vote was "undemocratic."

Fox News reports Biden said in a statement, "Today's expulsion of lawmakers who engaged in peaceful protest is shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent. Rather than debating the merits of the issue, these Republican lawmakers have chosen to punish, silence, and expel duly-elected representatives of the people of Tennessee."

The Tennessee House voted to remove Representatives Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson, three Democrats, in connection to a March 30 protest that saw clamorous protestors storm the state Capitol on Thursday.

Representative Justin Jones was the first to be successfully expelled after a 72-25 vote, which met the two-thirds majority threshold required to expel a member. The Tennessee House has 99 members and 66 votes marks the necessary voting majority.

The House failed to expel Johnson in a 65-30 vote, missing the threshold by one.

Finally, Pearson was expelled last with a 69-26 vote.

Jones, Pearson, and Johnson led protestors into the Capitol in an anti-gun protest.

During the protest, Jones employed a megaphone and yelled "no justice, no peace" on the floor.

In Biden's statement he said lawmakers needed "to act on commonsense gun safety reforms" such as enacting a ban "assault weapons with high capacity magazines."

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton said on Wednesday, "I want to make sure everybody knows this has nothing to do about the protest outside the House chamber or the protests outside the Capitol."

"This is about these three members' actions on the House floor, how they shut us down, and how they led protests from the House chamber to those in the balcony," Sexton added.