During a planned opposition against President Donald Trump‘s nomination hearing of Sen. Jeff Sessions for the Attorney General cabinet post. Sen. Elizabeth Warren attempted to read a 1986 letter from Coretta Scott King that was critical of Sessions, but Sen. Mitch McConnell silenced her which angered fellow members and other observers.
Senator Warren attemped to read a letter penned by the widow of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that stand in defiance of Sessions’ appointment for a federal judgeship in Alabama, a state where his record and actions have been criticized for being limiting to the state’s Black residents. As Warren read the letter, McConnell interrupted using a little-known rule that is typically reserved for when Senate is in session.
Raw Story reports:
Tuesday night the Massachusetts senator attempted to read the letter written by Coretta Scott King in 1985 to the late Senator Strom Thurmond attacking President Donald Trump’s choice of Jeff Sessions when he was up for a federal judgeship.
According to McConnell, Warren was in violation of little-used Rule XIX, which states: “No Senator in debate shall, directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another Senator or to other Senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a Senator.”
Condemnation of McConnell’s move came on the Senate floor, with newly-elected Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) calling it, “Outrageous.”
On Twitter, commenters were equally outraged, calling it “shameful,” with one writing, “Irony = silencing the voice of a leader of the civil rights movement during African American history month.”
Unbowed, Sen. Warren went outside of the chamber and took to Facebook Live to continue reading the letter. Outrage has been ongoing on Twitter since the incident took place and Warren herself has expertly used social media to advance her cause.
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