While Sens. Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz were squaring off on CNN in a debate over Obamacare, the real fireworks were to be found on the Senate floor, where Democrats were preparing for another all-night talkathon, this time in opposition to the confirmation of Sen. Jeff Sessions as Attorney General.
.@SenateDems are once again going to #holdthefloor all night – this time to speak out against @SenatorSessions’s nomination for AG.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 7, 2017
Elizabeth Warren going full demagogue on Sessions.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) February 8, 2017
Change of plan: the Senate decided that Warren will be tweeting rather than speaking out Tuesday night.
.@SenWarren was reminded of Rule19 by quoting Ted Kennedy saying of Sessions "He is, I believe, a disgrace to the Justice Department"
— Niels Lesniewski (@nielslesniewski) February 8, 2017
Meanwhile, on Senate floor – chair orders Sen Elizabeth Warren D-MA to stop speaking after jabs at Sen Jeff Sessions
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) February 8, 2017
By a 49-to-43 vote, Senate rules that Elizabeth Warren broke rule impugning a senator. She now cannot speak during debate on Jeff Sessions.
— Matt Viser (@mviser) February 8, 2017
Warren had been reading a letter from Coretta Scott King that opposed Sessions in 1986 for a federal judgeship
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) February 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/raju/status/829152665506553856
These motherfuckers are trying to sit Elizabeth Warren down on CSPAN right now and I'm ready to fight all of them.
— Alex Kooistra (@kooistra_a) February 8, 2017
White men shut down a white woman for reading the words of a black woman. https://t.co/DMeW3GJn9o
— Laurie Kilmartin- Bend, Salem, Portland Nov29-Dec1 (@anylaurie16) February 8, 2017
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Shut down a white woman? Oh, Elizabeth Warren. Never mind.
Imagine being so hateful and pathetic that you would silence Elizabeth Warren.
— Sally Salad (@AllieGoertz) February 8, 2017
OK … imagining … Yep. That was pretty easy. Honestly, she might as well have kept talking, so as not to give legs to the myth that Sessions wouldn’t have been confirmed if only Warren had read aloud the letter from Coretta Scott King. But now that narrative is already going around.
Look up "Streisand Effect" because that's what McConnell just kicked into action. https://t.co/GZ0bjg6dBh
— Anthony DeRosa? (@Anthony) February 8, 2017
If McConnell had not said anything, very few people would know of the Coretta Scott King letter on Sessions
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) February 8, 2017
But now, one would think that Democrats will bring it up again and again, and use it as a rallying cry
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) February 8, 2017
One thing’s certain: It didn’t take long for Warren to find another outlet for her rant.
https://twitter.com/gdebenedetti/status/829169703088168961
Senator Elizabeth Warren @SenWarren joins us live next after this remarkable turn of events on the Senate Floor #CorettaScottKing –MSNBC.
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) February 8, 2017
?? Elizabeth Warren speaks exclusively to @maddow about her silencing by Mitch McConnell: "I've been red-carded." https://t.co/JCzYrNnfMT
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 8, 2017
Flagging— Elizabeth Warren was silenced by McConnell tonight for reading the words of Coretta Scott King while speaking out against Sessions pic.twitter.com/ctXrge5Si0
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 8, 2017
Tonight on the Senate floor, I tried to speak about why @SenatorSessions is totally unfit to serve as Attorney General.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 8, 2017
On the floor, I read a letter that Coretta Scott King wrote in 1986 opposing @SenatorSessions's judicial nomination: https://t.co/mnACXekh8f
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 8, 2017
I spoke out about @SenatorSessions – until @SenateMajLdr McConnell decided to silence me. https://t.co/qbty7x0iLl
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 8, 2017
I will not be silent about a nominee for AG who has made derogatory & racist comments that have no place in our justice system.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 8, 2017
I will not be silent while the Republicans rubber stamp an AG who will never stand up to the @POTUS when he breaks the law.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 8, 2017
Tonight @SenateMajLdr silenced Mrs King's voice on the Sen floor – & millions who are afraid & appalled by what's happening in our country.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 8, 2017
This is the letter McConnell wouldn't let @elizabethforma read out loud tonight—and he doesn't want you to read it either. #LetLizSpeak pic.twitter.com/6kAJARPNzt
— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) February 8, 2017
“She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted,” Mitch McConnell says of Elizabeth Warren.
— Matt Viser (@mviser) February 8, 2017
A male senator telling a female senator to sit down as a consequence of standing up for equal rights. I #standwithelizabethwarren
— Scott (@worldchmps) February 8, 2017
No. She disparaged Sessions which is a violation of Senate rules and was called out for it.
— Liz Mac (@TheLizMac) February 8, 2017
Everyone is equal under the rule. https://t.co/DxJMniCv8Z
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) February 8, 2017
But not the leftist elite. That's what regressives taught me anyways. Government officials aren't held to the same standards…
— Chris Hawk (@Hawksteady) February 8, 2017
Tell me it isn't true….Fauxcahonas broke a rule and she didn't talk her way out of it?
— Retired728 (@retired728) February 8, 2017
As a Senator, she plays by Senate rules, arcane or not. https://t.co/i79gtAWZzG
— WhiteHousePressCorps (@whpresscorps) February 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/RobProvince/status/829160064661471233
I'll be honest; I'd have more sympathy re: McConnell gagging a senator if the senator weren't Elizabeth Warren.
— Liz Mair (@LizMair) February 8, 2017
Amen.
Never fear: backup is here.
The suggestion that reciting the words of the great Coretta Scott King by @SenWarren is an attack on a Senator is outrageous. #LetHerSpeak
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) February 8, 2017
I am speaking later tonight. I will be talking about Sessions' record. With gusto. Go ahead and rule me out of order. https://t.co/CL30xHQbM2
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 8, 2017
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Related:
Poll: ‘Elizabeth Warren deserves reelection’ loses to ‘Give someone else a chance,’ 44–46 https://t.co/qVxXYfRnBz
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) January 24, 2017