Despite repeated claims that Republicans seek to silence them in the Tennessee General Assembly, the members of the “Tennessee Three” collectively spoke more than seven hours in 2023, making them three of the four most loquacious Tennessee lawmakers over the year.
The Tennessee General Assembly began its 2024 regular session on Tuesday, but Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) claimed in repeated statements outside the House chambers that Republicans are trying to silence him.
When delivering a speech and chant ahead of entering the House chambers, Pearson claimed the Tennessee General Assembly has “all these rules, they got all these attempts to silence people,” calling them “attempts to subvert democracy.” Pearson echoed the statements in another impromptu speech as he left on Tuesday, declaring “they’re going to tell us to be quiet and try to pass these rigged rules” to prevent his speech.
Rep. Justin Pearson with an impromptu speech to supporters as he files out of session.@WKRN #TNLeg24 pic.twitter.com/LcBVmiTDua
— Chris O’Brien (@THEChrisOB) January 9, 2024
However, a Wednesday analysis by State Representative Jody Barrett (R-TN-69) revealed the three far-left members of the Tennessee General Assembly spoke a combined 7 hours and 16 minutes while conducting official business at the Tennessee Capitol in 2023.
“Weird that the people whining about ‘being silenced’ are 3 of the top 4 members of the TN General Assembly in time spent speaking on the House floor,” wrote Barrett in a post on X. The lawmaker added, “It’s almost like nobody else can get a word in edgewise,” and included a hashtag calling Pearson’s claim a “false narrative.”
Barrett’s post reveals Pearson spoke for three hours and 43 minutes, Representative Justin Jones (D-Nashville) spoke for two hours and 12 minutes, and Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) spoke for one hour and 29 minutes. Additionally, the only Republican to rank among the top 10 speakers was Representative William Lamberth (R-Portland), who spoke for just 40 minutes.
Weird that the people whining about “being silenced” are 3 of the top 4 members of the TN General Assembly in time spent speaking on the House floor. It’s almost like nobody else can get a word in edgewise. #falsenarrative pic.twitter.com/3HeOKPdw11
— Jody Barrett – State Representative (TN69) (@Jodyforstaterep) January 10, 2024
The majority of lawmakers spoke for less than one hour, with several included by Barrett speaking for less than 10 minutes in the Tennessee General Assembly over the entirety of 2023, which included a special session.
Jones and Pearson were expelled from the General Assembly after they led a gun control riot at the state capitol in the wake of the Covenant School shooting last year. They both quickly returned to office. Johnson narrowly avoided expulsion, and is currently seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination to challenge Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) in November.
Claims that members of the “Tennessee Three” were “silenced” in 2023 previously received national attention, with German-owned Politico noting that lawmakers determined Jones violated rules against disruptive members and would not be allowed to engage in debate for the remainder of the day. That was about four months after Jones attempted to bring a child-size casket into the Capitol chamber as a prop for his push for gun control.
– – –
Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
D. DISRESPECTFUL
E. EVIL
I. IGNORANT
We are watching in living color exactly what the Public Education System produces.
DEI IS Affirmative Action with a twist of communism.
They used to call themselves Progresssives, but they are actually Regressives.
Government is broken. Self governance is hard. We have no one to blame but ourselves.
democrats lie? imagine that.
These Communists aren’t in the legislature to solve problems. They’re there to create problems and chaos. Trained Marxist street thugs have no place in civilized society, let alone in a grown-up legislative body.
2023 WINNERS & LOSERS IN TENNESSEE POLITICS
WINNERS:
1 JUSTIN JONES – He is now the face and toast of the Tennessee Democrat Party. If he is disciplined for disrupting the proceedings of the Tennessee General Assembly the entire Democrat Party from Joe Biden on down rallies to support his outbursts.
2 JUDGES – Previously, one summarily voided a voter referendum to overturn the Metro Nashville Council’s 34 percent property tax increase. Now another dictates the rules of decorum to the Tennessee General Assembly.
3 SCHOOL VOUCHERS – Slow but sure progress, but one note of caution – see #2 above.
LOSERS:
1 BILL LEE – He ordered a special session that no one from his supermajority party wanted. Hopefully, he has noticed that the same media which heralded his call for a special session now claims he showed no leadership during the session. It would be interesting to know what he and his advisors expected.
2 CHANCES FOR A CIVIL DISCOURSE IN THE TENNESSEE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
WINNERS IN THEIR OWN MINDS ONLY:
1 THE TENNESSEE DEMOCRAT PARTY – Turning the proceedings of the Tennessee General Assembly into the Justin Jones Show may play well in the deep Blue districts, but will it really help Democrats flip control of the legislature?
2 THE NEWS MEDIA – Mostly blue in a deep red state. The news media continues to promote, create, and celebrate disrupters (as long as they are not January 6 disrupters). The news media’s main impact is to foster further division in our society.
Further, does today’s news media really do anything of service to Tennessee communities?
3 THOSE IN THE MEDIA CONSTRUCTED “COVENANT FAMILIES” – Every family that has a personal connection to the Covenant School shooting has suffered a horrific tragedy. But are we really expected to believe that every member of every Covenant family supports the agenda the media is projecting onto them?