It's been more than a year since the leftist media made instant heroes out of the "Tennessee Three," Democrat state legislators that were briefly expelled for disrupting legislative proceedings because they couldn't accomplish anything with a Republican supermajority. But in Chicago, state Rep. Justin Jones was cut from the gun-control portion of Thursday night's convention program.
So on her noon-time Saturday show, MSNBC host Katie Phang fawned over Jones and how he wasn't granted air time for his claim that our states are "testing grounds for fascism." She nudged him to share the remarks he would have given to her audience on MSNBC and declared that she had gone "wild" for him.
She also made an embarrassing verbal gaffe while trying to refer to the "many American flags" at the convention.
After beginning the show by recounting some of the happenings of the convention from this past week, Phang welcomed aboard her beloved guest:
Representative Jones, it's always an honor to have you on the show. Look, I was looking forward to hearing from you as well as the other Tennessee Three. And I know that you guys were not able to actually speak at the convention because of timing. I want you to share with our viewers some kind of thoughts that you were going to say at the convention.
In his response, State Representative Jones complained about the Project 2025 plan for a second Donald Trump term, and talked up the need for Democrats to compete in more Southern states. And, even though Tennessee votes more than 60 Republican in presidential elections, Jones stretched by claiming that it is not actually a red state but instead "voter-suppressed." Here's Jones:
[W]hat we saw last year when we were expelled for fighting for common sense gun laws to protect kids and not guns, what we saw was a real threat that Project 2025 and the authoritarian behavior of MAGA Republican extremists poses to this nation....
And so, again, our message is to say every state is worth fighting in -- that, you know, when we say we're not going back, that means leaving no state behind and ceding no territory to these extremists, and that Tennessee is not a red state, but it is a voter-suppressed state -- and that if we invest in these Republican-controlled states, we can try to change them. Tennessee has the lowest voter turnout in the nation.
He then called for a laundry list of liberal goals:
If we want to change this nation, we have to look at the South -- Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama -- the South is not going to rise again, Katie, but I do believe it can rise anew. We can build a new South that is multi-racial, multi-generational, rooted in racial justice, rooted in economic justice, rooted in women's rights and LGBTQ rights. And that's the South we're fighting for here in Tennessee.
Following up, Phang gushed:
And the crowd would have gone wild as I am. That would have been amazing, so I'm grateful that you took the time to share that with our viewers tuning in. It was your first convention, Representative. For all of us that were watching at home with a bit of FOMO, tell us how it was to be a part of this historic moment all week.
In his followup, Jones dishonestly claimed that Republicans were trying to ban the teaching of black history:
And of course the Vice President accepting this nomination -- the first black woman, the first South Asian, making history. And, again, Republicans always talk about banning black history, but they cannot ban black history when we are seeing black history being made every day, including on that convention hall floor. It was almost like a pep rally for democracy, and the excitement was electric...
In her next segment in which she discussed Democrats trying to emphasize patriotism and holding many American flags at the convention, Phang accidentally mispronounced the word "flag" as she cheered on a tweet from leftist TV producer David Simon, who claimed that Republican patriotism, unlike Democrat patriotism, is "in the gutter."
Transcript follows:
MSNBC's The Katie Phang Show
August 24, 2024
12:02 p.m. Eastern
KATIE PHANG: Joining me now to get us started is Tennessee Democratic State Representative Justin Jones, a member of the Tennessee Three. Representative Jones, it's always an honor to have you on the show. Look, I was looking forward to hearing from you as well as the other Tennessee Three. And I know that you guys were not able to actually speak at the convention because of timing. I want you to share with our viewers some kind of thoughts that you were going to say at the convention.
STATE REPRESENTATIVE JUSTIN JONES (D-TN): Yes, well, it's always an honor to join you, Katie. You know, we will continue to lift up the message that states like Tennessee in the South matter -- that if we want to build a new nation, we cannot neglect the South -- that every state is worth fighting for -- and what we saw last year when we were expelled for fighting for common sense gun laws to protect kids and not guns, what we saw was a real threat that Project 2025 and the authoritarian behavior of MAGA Republican extremists poses to this nation. And so we were going to lift the message for the need to act with urgency and moral clarity and boldness to address the crisis of gun violence and also connecting it to democracy because 70 percent of Americans -- Democrats, Republicans and independents -- are calling for common sense gun laws, and yet Republicans are choosing to answer to the NRA and the gun industry.
And so, again, our message is to say every state is worth fighting in -- that, you know, when we say we're not going back, that means leaving no state behind and ceding no territory to these extremists, and that Tennessee is not a red state, but it is a voter-suppressed state -- and that if we invest in these Republican-controlled states, we can try to change them. Tennessee has the lowest voter turnout in the nation. If we want to change this nation, we have to look at the South -- Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama -- the South is not going to rise again, Katie, but I do believe it can rise anew. We can build a new South that is multi-racial, multi-generational, rooted in racial justice, rooted in economic justice, rooted in women's rights and LGBTQ rights. And that's the South we're fighting for here in Tennessee.
PHANG: And the crowd would have gone wild as I am. That would have been amazing, so I'm grateful that you took the time to share that with our viewers tuning in. It was your first convention, Representative. For all of us that were watching at home with a bit of FOMO, tell us how it was to be a part of this historic moment all week.
JONES: Yeah, I mean, it was my first convention, and as I walked out on the convention floor, it was a sacred space. I was thinking about Fannie Lou Hamer 1964 -- I was thinking about Shirley Chisholm 1972 -- I was thinking about Jesse Jackson 1988 -- all those who led to this moment. And to feel the excitement, you know, I saw clips of the Republican convention, and it was so sad to see how less energy there was -- you know, having Little John come out, having Michelle Obama who lifted up this new call -- "When they go low, we fight back." You know, that's kind of the new energy that we felt from her speech which was a highlight. And of course the Vice President accepting this nomination -- the first black woman, the first South Asian, making history. And, again, Republicans always talk about banning black history, but they cannot ban black history when we are seeing black history being made every day, including on that convention hall floor. It was almost like a pep rally for democracy, and the excitement was electric...
(...)
12:09 p.m.
PHANG: At this convention, Democrats reclaimed patriotism from the Republicans. We heard so many chants of "USA." You saw right now on that screen so many American fags -- flags, excuse me -- flying. Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia, Geoff Duncan, telling the crowd, "If you vote for Kamala Harris, you're not voting as a Democrat, but you're voting as a patriot." And, David, quickly, Peggy Noonan, she wrote something that kind of, you know, quicked me a little bit. She says, quote, "The Democrats stole traditional Republican themes of faith and patriotism and claimed them as their own." She wrote that in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. But David Simon claps back and said, "Those things aren't rationed, Peggy. They're available to all. If Republicans look around for their share, they'll find them in the gutter right where the Republicans toss them." I mean, David, talk about patriotism being reclaimed by the Dems.
