Two expelled Tennessee state Democrat Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson have been spotted at a protest outside the White House Correspondents' Dinner, accusing the Biden administration of committing "ecocide."
On Saturday night, the two lawmakers, who were voted out of the Tennessee House of Representatives earlier this month, were seen outside the Washington Hilton, where the annual dinner was taking place.
The protest, organized by the environmentalist group Climate Defiance, was against President Biden's approval of a 30-year Alaskan oil drilling project known as the Willow Project.
"@brotherjones_ is here now supporting protestors," Politico reporter Mia Camille McCarthy tweeted.
In a video taken outside the dinner, Jones is seen chanting through a megaphone, "Show me what Democracy looks like! We are in a state of emergency in this nation. We are fighting fascism. We're fighting a system that is trying to put the profits of the gun industry, the profits of the fossil fuel industry, the profits of for profit healthcare over the lives of our people."
Jones and Pearson were reinstated after being expelled from the Republican-controlled legislature. President Biden, who was set to speak at the dinner, previously welcomed the two lawmakers, along with Rep. Gloria Johnson, to the White House.
At the time, Biden called their expulsion votes "shocking" and "undemocratic."
Vice President Kamala Harris also showed her support for the lawmakers, accusing the GOP-majority governing body of trashing Democracy by silencing the lawmakers and the voters they represent.
Harris made a surprise visit to Nashville earlier this month and spoke at a church, saying, "It wasn’t about the three of these leaders. It was about who they were representing. It’s about whose voices they were channeling! Understand that!"
The presence of Jones and Pearson at the protest shows that the two lawmakers are undeterred and still fighting for what they believe in. It also shows that they are willing to stand up to the Biden administration despite their warm welcome at the White House.