President Joe Biden is expected to meet with the subjects of an expulsion vote in the Tennesee legislature.
But, he is not expected to meet the families of the victims of the shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, last month.
On Monday, he will welcome the so-called “Tennessee Three,” who are the subjects of state Republican lawmakers’ political stupidity, to the White House. Democratic state Reps. Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson will meet with Biden on Monday.
Jones and Pearson were expelled from the legislature after they participated in a disruptive protest. Johnson narrowly survived the expulsion vote.
During a press briefing on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre faced questions about the meeting from Fox News’ Peter Doocy.
“You’re going to have three of the lawmakers who peacefully protested after the Nashville Covenant School shooting. Have any of the victims or the victims’ families been invited to the White House?” he asked.
Jean-Pierre responded, “I don’t have anything to read out to you about any invite.”
Watch the video below:
DOOCY: "You're going to have three of the lawmakers who peacefully protested after the Nashville Covenant School shooting. Have any of the victims or the victims' families been invited to the White House?"
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 19, 2023
JEAN-PIERRE: "I don't have anything to read out to you about any invite." pic.twitter.com/Hv4wH9WItQ
Doocy asked, “Why?”
“I just don’t have anything at this time,” she responded.
She went on to speak about how the president is “focused on getting things done.”
The cynical interpretation of this exchange would be that the White House did not want to meet with the victims because the incident did not bolster their narrative about transgender issues.
However, it is possible the White House reached out about meeting with the family’s victims and was rejected. The church that runs the school belongs to is part of a conservative denomination of Christianity. It is possible they signaled they were not interested in meeting with a president whose policies they likely firmly disagree with.
But, as with the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, the administration appears to be dragging its feet on meeting with the victims. And there is no clear reason why.
By contrast, the day after a white shooter killed 10 Black people in Buffalo, New York, in a racially motivated attack, the White House announced Biden would meet with the families of the victims.
Biden could avoid the optics issue entirely by deciding not to meet with the faux martyrs of the Tennessee legislature. They suffered no real harm. In fact, they have become stars practically overnight.
To decide to meet with politicians who received celebrity status through the punishment they received for violating the rules of the legislature — and who have since been reinstated — while appearing to ignore actual victims on its face comes off as callous and tone-deaf.
