Tennessee Republican Jeremy Faison Walks Off CNN Interview After Being Grilled Over Expelling Two Democratic Lawmakers
Tennessee Republican Jeremy Faison abruptly walked off an interview with CNN this week after being asked about the expulsion of two Democratic lawmakers from the state legislature earlier in the day, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Faison’s sudden departure from the live interview came Thursday night shortly after he and his fellow Tennessee Republicans used their supermajority to expel Democratic Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson over their decision to join a gun violence protest at the Tennessee statehouse last week.
Democratic Rep. Gloria Johnson, whom the Tennessee Republicans also voted to expel, avoided her own expulsion by just one vote.
“And I wonder, sir, who are you punishing?” CNN’s Sara Snider asked Faison after Jones and Pearson were expelled.
“Because yes, you have kicked out these two Democrats, but there are tens of thousands of constituents that are also being punished and don’t have any representation right now,” Snider continued. “What do you say to them?”
According to Faison, Democratic Reps. Jones and Pearson helped “incite” and “rile up” the demonstrators at last week’s gun violence protest.
“Our reporters were there and they talked to some of them,” Sidner pressed. “And some of them were teachers, who were so distraught, they were near tears because they could not believe that their lawmakers were doing this, as opposed to dealing with the biggest issue at hand – the number one killer of children is gun violence.”
“So, I’m sure that’s what you think,” Faison responded. “But we watched them today, directing [the protestors] like a choir leader would. That was what was amazing. And I’ll tell you this – and unfortunately, I’ve got to go, I’m 3.5 hours from home – it’s not possible for us to move forward.”
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“With the way they were behaving in committee and on the House floor,” Faison added before abruptly stepping away from the interview. “Thank you for letting me speak with you. God bless you.”
Fellow CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins then attempted to ask Faison one last question, but he had already walked off camera.
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“Representative, I know you’ve got a long drive home,” Collins said. “One final question for you. Alright, well, Chairman Faison has left us.”
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Democratic Reps. Jones and Pearson were expelled from Tennessee’s state legislature on Thursday for taking part in a gun control protest held at Tennessee’s statehouse last week.
The demonstrators were protesting the gun violence epidemic taking place across the state – specifically the recent school shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville on March 27 that left three 9-year-old students and three adult staffers dead.