#ShePersisted goes viral after Senate votes to silence Warren

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) inadvertently created a rallying cry for supporters of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) when he rebuked her after the Senate voted to prevent her from speaking.

As Democrats held the Senate floor overnight to protest Sen. Jeff Sessions’s (R-Ala.) nomination for attorney general, Warren quoted a 1986 letter that the late Coretta Scott King, a civil rights activist and wife of Martin Luther King Jr., wrote opposing Sessions’s nomination for a federal judgeship at the time.

McConnell interrupted Warren, saying she had impugned another senator.

{mosads}“Sen. Warren was giving a lengthy speech. She had appeared to violate the rule. She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”

The Senate voted 49-43 along party lines to prevent Warren from speaking on the Senate floor for the remainder of debate on Sessions’s nomination.

But on social media, Warren backers turned McConnell’s criticism into a rallying cry, praising the Democrat for persisting despite GOP attempts to stop her from speaking.

Many shared the quote with images of strong female role models. The quote turned into a hashtag, which along with #LetLizSpeak, has gone viral.

“She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted” sounds like a great new rallying cry for the feminist movement.

— Nisha Chittal (@NishaChittal) February 8, 2017

I hope @SenateMajLdr realizes he just gave us the best lady power slogan of all time #NeverthelessShePersisted #LetLizSpeak

— Jessica Blum (@jessleighblum) February 8, 2017

Where does one get the “she was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless she persisted” t-shirt?

— Soledad O’Brien (@soledadobrien) February 8, 2017

This is a rebellion; I rebel.#letlizspeak#resist#ShePersisted pic.twitter.com/Gi1BXASFDM

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) February 8, 2017

Put this on my tombstone https://t.co/guM197CJyk

— Robyn Swirling (@RSwirling) February 8, 2017

She was warned. She was given an explanation Nevertheless #shepersisted. pic.twitter.com/iN0uBvwfq9

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) February 8, 2017

She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, She Persisted. #letlizspeak pic.twitter.com/Wo4L85WwiH

— Lady Helena (@GreyLady2017) February 8, 2017

“She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, #shepersisted.”

Marsha P. Johnson & Sylvia Rivera pic.twitter.com/AY5bPtXBUi

— Renee Bracey Sherman (@RBraceySherman) February 8, 2017

“She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless she persisted.” #letlizspeak #Sessionshearing pic.twitter.com/FdSlIyxsrI

— T. Fisher King (@T_FisherKing) February 8, 2017

Nevertheless #shepersisted #letlizspeak pic.twitter.com/si3yDkQCpF

— Tara NeyhardCampbell (@mrs_actor_dude) February 8, 2017

“Nevertheless, she persisted.” Mitch McConnell just gave Elizabeth Warren the title of her autobiography, if not a line of T-shirts.

— David Simon (@AoDespair) February 8, 2017

She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted. pic.twitter.com/ebXJRX23Re

— Marc (@MarcSnetiker) February 8, 2017

“Nevertheless, she persisted.” pic.twitter.com/hSLqCbPAc9

— Mark Frost (@mfrost11) February 8, 2017

“Nevertheless, she persisted.” pic.twitter.com/75Owib52Mb

— Don Van Natta Jr. (@DVNJr) February 8, 2017