"Tennessee GOP in turmoil over race and religion"

Leaked audio of a meeting between Tennessee Republican lawmakers shows tensions and infighting between members after the vote to expel two Black Democratic lawmakers. Republican members were angered by one member’s decision to avoid expelling Johnson and outraged by accusations of racism. Democrats around the nation have thrown their support behind the “Tennessee Three,” while Black leaders specifically pointed to the racial undertones of the expulsion of the two Black lawmakers but not the white lawmaker. Both Pearson and Jones have been reinstated as interim representatives to the House in unanimous votes by their counties.