This is an emergency broadcast system episode of Rumble with
Michael Moore. I'm Michael Moore, the state
legislature in the State House of Representatives in Tennessee,
Has just spent the last four or five hours that just ended and I
wanted to put this up here on my podcast and get this out to you
right away because if you have a chance to watch this I'm sure
you can go online at C-SPAN. What just happened, what?
I just witnessed what I think anybody was tuning in across the
country, just witnessed was the real epitome of where we are at
right now in this country. With our democracy, the threat
that it faces. Has and my belief.
That this behavior on the part of the right-wing, the white
supremacist, the Republican party and what they did today in
the state house in Tennessee. Will only guarantee their
further demise. They have no clue.
Who this country is anymore. And they made a decision today
to suspend democracy in the state of Tennessee.
That's not hyperbole by friends, the State House of
Representatives in Tennessee, this afternoon and this evening.
Voted to remove from office to house members.
A young black man from Memphis. His name is Justin Pearson.
And another young black man from Nashville, his name is Justin
Jones. Remember those names?
Because what they did and how they stood up today, against
these right Wingers and how they were treated by them by these
Republicans in the House of Representatives in Tennessee.
This is going to reverberate across the country and
especially amongst young people. I'm sure they're there.
They're already watching it on YouTube.
C-SPAN dot-org Tick-Tock passing it around whatever because There
were many levels of what what I just witnessed here today.
The racism of it. They're actually they tried,
they were three members three Democrats in the Tennessee house
that they tried to expel today. And they expelled the two black
members, the two young black men in their 20s.
There was a white woman. They also tried to expel a 60
year old former teacher from Knoxville amazing woman, who had
the Good Fortune I guess to be white because they she won.
I mean by one vote. She was not expelled From the
Tennessee House of Representatives, but the two
young black men, the to Justin's Justin Pearson and Justin Jones
out. Removed.
These are people voted into office by the voters of their
districts in Memphis and Nashville.
And now the voters of those two districts have no representation
in the Tennessee house. Gone.
Now you're by this point, Mike, what are you talking about?
What did they do? What did they do to have them
kicked out of the Tennessee House of Representatives?
What did these two black guys do?
A week ago today. Students all over Nashville
March to the that's the state capital, A March to the state,
the state capital. And protested, the fact that
Tennessee has some of the worst gun laws in the country.
This was two days. Two days after the mass shooting
there at the school in Nashville, three dead, nine
year, olds three dead staff members.
By a shooter with an AR-15. And so young people, as they've
been doing for at least since the Parkland shooting, but many
young people before that protesting all this gun
violence. And the fact that they now, they
now as young people, it's become the number one cause of death
for anyone under the age of 18 in the United States.
Death by gun. Is that the most disgusting, an
amazing statistic that you could hear.
Not cancer. Not car accidents.
Not a whole host of things that happen to babies when they're
born. The number one cause of death
for children. Under the age of 18, in the US
are guns, So, whenever you hear of a teenager dying or an
eight-year-old dying or whatever, your first thought
from now, on must always be oh my God, who shot them where they
shot. It would, I mean, if anything is
the number one cause of anything, that's where your head
should go first, right? So when you hear a toddler a
child, a tween a teen dying. Automatically.
Statistically. You should go.
Oh my God. Don't tell me more guns, the
guns again, because it's the number one cause of death.
So what did these three legislators do?
The two young black men and the 60 year-old former teacher her
name was Gloria Johnson from Knoxville.
And let me just point out something about her that a
decade or so ago when she was teaching at Central High School
in Knoxville, There was a school shooting, there she is a
survivor of a school shooting and on the floor of the house
today, as she was defending her actions, she told the story of
that day and all the children running to hide in her classroom
because of the shooting in the cafeteria.
So she's already experienced this herself as a teacher.
This plague. Of gun violence.
Why were they being expelled from the Tennessee house?
Because last week, when all those students came to the state
capitol building to protest, demanding gun legislation, And
they did their best to keep them all outside that first day of
protest to keep these young people outside after that,
though they've been getting in. And today's protests were all in
the Rotunda there in the Capitol in Nashville.
But they weren't getting a voice.
They weren't their voice was being cut off.
And any Democrat who tried to speak on the floor, Republican
leader, the Speaker of the House in Tennessee, which is cut off
Democrats or not, call on them to speak.
And then finally turn the microphone off on somebody.
This is like a week ago. And so these three house members
walked up to the main podium in front of the speaker, And he cut
their microphone and cut the microphone off.
And so then they just kept talking, one of them had a
little mini bull horns and they started talking through that.
So everybody could hear them to speak out against the NRA
against gun violence. Against these mass shootings,
which they've already been over. Are what 100 just since New
Year's Day in this country, that was their crime.
They were speaking out of turn. They violated the rules of the
house and so the bills were introduced resolutions were
introduced to expel them to remove them from office. and
that's what today was about this afternoon and this evening in
Nashville, Tennessee, The white woman was spared by one vote,
just one go. They needed 66 votes to remove
any of them, 65 voted to remove her.
And then the to Justin's the two black men both had like 70 to
73, 71 whatever it was votes to remove them and they were
removed. Removed from office, not just
kicked out of the room because they were misbehaving removed
from office. So H they District in Tennessee,
has anywhere from 70,000 to 80,000 citizens.
You know, it's they try to divide them up fairly evenly but
because it's so gerrymandered even though Republicans get more
voters in Tennessee but they have a supermajority because
they gerrymander the district's carve it up.
Just like they've carved up Tennessee for the US House of
Representatives. Most notably in Nashville
itself, a city with a considerable Black and Hispanic
population after the census in 2020.
When the Republicans redrew the map for Tennessee, they carved
the city of Nashville. Up.
It is like it like a pie. They broke it into three pieces.
So instead of the one city of Nashville, there's now Nashville
and like roughly three pieces and each piece was given to a
white Suburban District 3 white Suburban districts, picked up a
little piece of Nashville And then had a white majority and so
Nashville, which is usually represented by democrats in the
US Congress. Now, no longer now represented
by Republicans Republicans, that representing this diverse
vibrant, city of Music, creativity Arts, a democratic
City. Now, represented in the US
Congress by two or three separate Republicans.
So that's the, that's the context of what happened here
today. And each of the three who were
accused because they, they went up to the microphone on that day
last week to speak their piece about gun violence and the
legislation that needed to pass. The Republicans called it an
uprising. They compared it to January 6.
This was a nonviolent peaceful, if you want to call it a
protest, I guess it was in the sense because they the speaker
wasn't allowing them to speak. So they just went ahead and kept
speaking. So they broke the rule.
But as one of the individuals, representative Pearson Justin
Pearson, he did his homework. He said his fiance is a is in
law school and so she helped him and pointed out how the charges
against them. The charges are not true.
They weren't breaking the permanent rules of the Tennessee
house. I mean, it was really was just
brilliant the way that they kind of broke it down and tore it
apart and threw it back in the faces and So so then these
Republicans, he's these white, men got to stand up and and
Jacques use these three individuals.
I mean if it wasn't so sick it would be hilarious but the way
that they talk to them the way that they interrogated them at
the podium today. You know, you and you know why
you're standing there right now. You know, why you're in trouble?
Not there talking to them is. It's a complex.
It's not really. It's not a complex tone.
The tone is very clear, I'm certain especially if you're
black and especially if you're young.
To be talked to like, you know, you are a child and but to talk
to be talked to like, you're not white when they interrogated the
woman, the white woman former teacher, who broke the rules.
They changed, they change. If you get to watch this on
C-Span or whatever, just watch the tonal change.
First of all, she's white. So they don't talk to her like
she's black. I mean, you got to I mean, if
you grew up like I did starting in the, you know, mid part of
the 20th century. You're very used to this tone,
you know, this you grew up listening to it evil.
But to hear it in 2023. So, when they talk to the white
woman, they talk like you're talking to a white person and
they. So, so, some respect, but then
she's a woman. So then it's a bunch of men,
man. Splaining to her the questions
that they're asking her and, and it's.
So, again, I think probably if you're a woman, you know, this
tone, right? I don't know.
I'm probably mansplaining it right now, but I mean, it was
just like, are you freaking kidding me?
and the way that they went after these two young black
Representatives, these two men And why do you think you're
standing there boy? They left off the boy, but it's
there. And in fact, both of them said,
later afterwards. They heard it.
They know the tone, they know the sound.
You think you get to come in here?
Just because you're elected and get to throw a temper tantrum.
Boy. What I think we have here is a
failure to be white. Hmm.
Oh my God, please. I mean, I hate to have to have
you listen to this, because it's so freaking disturbing and
disgusting, but I think it's important.
We know that what we're up against, it's important to know
it because we keep beating it. We beat these people on Tuesday
in Wisconsin. We beat their attempt to take
over Chicago, on Tuesday, in the mayor election with a republican
running as a Democrat. We beat them in a lot of red
States, back in November last year, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana
All voted for abortion rights. Michigan Minnesota,
Massachusetts. Maryland, all all took over
their state house. Where their state house and the
state senate are now democratic-controlled.
The governor's Attorney General Secretary of States in all four
states, they all now are fully Democratic in those States.
And they join another, what 14 other states that are already
that way. So we're pushing 20 States,
almost 20 States. Now we're Democrats are in
charge. Now, you know, you've listened
to me long enough for read my stuff, or watch my movies.
A lot of problems with Democrats and I'm very clear and vocal
about them. And I hope I have helped to
contribute by being so critical of them when they do wrong that
we now have more and more and more progressives that are
winning that are sitting in Congress.
We have a progressive caucus now in the Democrats in Congress,
that have well over 100 members of that, that are are
progressives. It wasn't like that 10 years, 20
years, definitely not 30 years ago. 30 years ago, 30 years or
even 20 years ago, they were afraid to say the word liberal
like it was a dirty word, they were made to feel ashamed of it,
so they didn't say it and they took out things in the
Democratic platform. They didn't want to talk about
abortion, they didn't want to talk about guns.
So they removed all that so they could get elected because they
were so afraid. And of course, what I've been
about all these years I've been doing this since even well
before my first film, that's how most of you started to don't
know me back then in 1989. But before that I was, you know,
in 1972. I was the first 18 year old
elected to office in the state of Michigan.
The youngest person, one of the youngest in the country.
So, you know, I've been doing this for a long time in speaking
out, to try to, you know, what's The saying move the ball down
the field, guys. Come on guys, move the ball down
the field so that we do the right thing.
So that This madness ends. The fact that they removed
people who are elected to office, not because they stole
money, they were bribed by some rich person.
The last time they remove somebody, I think they've only
removed two people in the last century.
Tennessee. One was for bribery 1980 and
then the other was in 2016 4, 22 allegations of sexual misconduct
against. Owen there in the state capital
so they they bounced him on the Republicans.
A big Hyun big cry about how wrong this is, you know they you
know, this man didn't get his due process.
They they they informed these these three that they were going
to be put on trial today on Monday.
They just decided to hell with democracy today in Tennessee,
you were removed from office. And the white woman who was not
removed by only one vote, she stood strongly and squarely with
them afterwards, they went outside the state capitol
building. They held hands up in the air.
when our reporter asks, you know, like a simple I don't want
to say stupid question it because I know the reporter
wants to hear her say it. So the reporter says to the
former teacher from Knoxville who was not removed today by one
vote. She says.
So on representative Johnson, why do you think they were
removed and not you? And she looked at her and she
goes racism. like, Everybody knows what this is.
And also, the other thing it is, is of course, it there.
There they hate. The fact that there are twenty
somethings. Now, in a lot of our state
houses, in a lot of our state, in the US House of
Representatives, we have a 25 year-old Maxwell, Alejandro
Frost from Orlando Florida. Now represents part of Orlando
there in the US Congress. And he was great tonight too.
They had him on talking about on one of the new shows.
Pearson Justin Pearson he said, as he was standing up there
defending himself wasn't really defending himself.
He was just give it right back to them.
You're damn right. I'm going to stand up for these
three. Nine year, olds who were killed
and everybody else who's poor who doesn't have health care
who, you know, went down the whole list and then he and then
he stated he said I stand here in this body.
I stand for the lost, the last, and the least.
The lost the last and the least. Holy Thursday.
Passover. Ramadan.
All of that today. And these people.
These bible-thumping Republicans, these so-called
Christians and when they filed out of there after they did this
and they had to go through a gauntlet, a very actually
respectful Gauntlet of young people, teenagers 20-somethings,
they made way a little space in the aisle for them to walk out.
And no violence, no pushing no shoving, just a gentle, you're a
fascist, you're a fascist, you're a fascist, you're a
fascist as they left and it's like, it's seriously.
These white guys. The camera angle is beautiful.
As they walked this Gauntlet, and it literally looked like
they were coming off an assembly line.
But I swear to God talk about how white people all look alike.
They look, they just all looked alike.
It was like they were coming off an assembly line.
One angry older white guy after another Walking out of the
chambers and having to pass by all of these young people.
Who's number one, cause of death is guns?
I don't know, I just wanted to turn on my microphone here and I
wanted to talk to all of you as quickly as possible.
I want you to watch this. If you can, it's up on C-Span
dot-org or it's on TV. If you just have C-SPAN on TV
just turn it on. Each of those districts like I
said if 70 to 80 thousand citizens in them, that's who
these three represent. They were attempting to remove
the voice of almost a quarter of a million people.
That was on the agenda today. Remove the voice in the state
house, for nearly a quarter million tennesseans today.
And they got rid of two of them the what the two who were black.
And so you've got probably at least close to 150,000
tennesseans tonight. Who have zero representation in
the Tennessee House of Representatives.
In other words, their rights to a democracy were removed from
them. Not just the representatives
being removed, but the 150,000 now who have no voice, that
means they have no democracy when it comes to anything going
on in the Tennessee house. Now, there's going to be a
special election. Do not quite exactly what the
procedures are in Tennessee. But both the Justin's Pearson
and Jones afterwards outside of makeshift.
Press conference announced that You're planning to run and come
back. And as soon as they said that
you had of course, everyone in their district is going to vote
for them and return them to a district, full of people who are
going to be able to vote. Now, a district that's been told
right now. You have no voice in the
Tennessee legislature here. I think I'm stating the obvious
that Justin Jones in just a sin are going to be right back in
there. So that's the good news.
I guess from this are before I guess I'm just going to let you
go but I just to be to be a witness to a state represented
by its house. Voting to essentially end
democracy because if you have 150,000 or a quarter of a
million people that no longer are being represented then you
can't call your state of democracy.
Everybody is represented in a democracy And as we talk right
now, that's not the case in Tennessee.
So to witness a destruction of a democracy in a state today was
chilling. It was gobsmacking If you watch
this it will start to take your breath away I think.
But I want to tell you I'm going to end on this.
The good news in the feeling. I after I sat here, processed it
for a while. I thought how stupid are the
Republicans I mean, look at all the seats that they lost in the
November election when they were so sad, that big red wave and
all these states that voted in Democrats, the Democrats ended
up with more US senators after the November election than they
have before it. And they only are missing the
house here by just a few seats. And I'll tell you when you watch
this, if you do watch it, or just you can take my word for
it. If you want young people.
Young people are watching us, they're very tuned in as I
speak. I know.
I know thousands of them are passing this around the internet
right now, passing this around on social media.
What? They just witnessed everything
that happened today was one slap across their face and then right
back on the other side of their face, that way that these two
young black men were spoken to First is degraded as black men
by these white racist. Republicans in the Tennessee
house but also because they were young.
So they were talked down to, in that way to.
I got a double whammy for it. And I know enough, Jen's ears,
and millennials. The Parkland generation, the
Columbine generation. I know and work with them.
I've met enough of them in my years of making films and
traveling the country helping to organize around election time.
They're not going to like this one bit.
The looks on these young people's faces as they as the
white race is filed out of out of the house.
I thought, man, these Republicans in addition to what
they've done to women. Two young women, but to all
women through getting rid of Roe v-- Wade to all the other
anti-women, anti-seize Idaho passed a law this week to try
and track any woman who tries to leave I to Idaho or any young
woman who doesn't have permission of her, parents tries
to leave Idaho to go get an abortion, another state because
they're going to make abortion completely illegal.
And I do that, they can arrest you.
They could arrest you on a felony.
For sneaking out of your state, to go, have a medical procedure.
That you have a right to because it's your friggin body.
So we've got a lot of fight here in front of us, but the good
news is there's more of us than there are of them.
The good news is, is that every year for million 17 year, olds
in this country, turn 18 and become eligible voters for
million a year. Just so you get a handle on that
that means between the election of Biden in 2020.
And the election next year in 2024 That means 16 million.
Teenagers became eligible voters.
How many of these teenagers do you think are going to vote for
the party of trump? Because they didn't in the last
few elections and we had record turnouts of young voters record
not like the old days anymore. These gems ears.
A lot of these Millennials, they vote.
They've more than any other age demographic.
They're not racist, they're not misogynist.
And they're not haters. And we taught our boys to
respect women. And these kids, remember the old
joke Colbert used to do when he had his show there on Comedy
Central when he was playing a version of Bill O'Reilly, I
don't see color. I don't see color.
Nothing ever really used to say. What are you talking about?
There's no racism here with us. We don't see color.
Actually these kids they don't I mean they may see it if for all
the good things that color brings that ethnicity brings
that diversity. Brings the for all the good
reasons, but but they don't see it to hate.
Now, I'm not saying that's true for all that making a huge
blanket statement, but I'm telling you, I turned off the TV
here after watching this disgusting display of of racism
in anti-democracy. Zealots.
I turned it off and I just thought the young people are
going to save us. I don't want to put that on
them, it doesn't let anybody else listening to this off the
hook, but they know the, what, what of this and they're not
going to tolerate it and if you don't think they know when you
don't think they're thinking what I'm going to tell you trust
me they think about it and us every day and that is the planet
that we are handing them. The planet, they're going to
have to survive on. In the 2060s, the 20 70s, the
2080s. That planet.
You know what I'm talking about? And they know they know we
aren't probably depending on, you know, what your age is here.
A lot of us aren't going to suffer it.
And then just remind everybody that 24 election.
This we're in 23, it's next year.
And it's not only about the candidates, it's about ballot
proposals, it's about a whole bunch of things that we need to
be doing. We need to be working on it
right now and I'm sorry to sound.
So, like you need to do this. But I mean, you know, if you are
a boomer, if you're of my generation or whatever, don't
just leave this up to your kids. If anything out of just our
sense of wanting to seek their forgiveness, for what they're
going to have to live through 30 years, from now, 40 years from
now, 50 years from now. Because we messed it up.
Get involved. That's what I wanted to say
here. I hope it wasn't too.
Just joined it. I didn't really write up any
notes for myself here. I'm just so upset.
Having just turned this off witnessing another claps of
democracy and yet knowing knowing knowing just again this
week in Wisconsin, this week in Chicago, this week, so many
places people are throwing the Republicans out of office.
They are refusing all of their hate all of their destruction of
this planet. It doesn't go as far as you are,
I wanted to go but that it will if we get more of us involved
and do something about it. That's what I leave you with.
We can do this. We have to do it.
I want to thank producer and editor of this podcast, the
wonderful angel of Argos and all of you for listening and sharing
this with others. Please.
Pass it around more victories. That had folks.
More victories are ahead. Take care everyone.
I'll talk to you real soon. This is Michael Moore and this
is Rumble.