Right before Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) took to the Senate floor on Tuesday night to read Coretta Scott King's 1986 letter to oppose Jeff Sessions for attorney general, her publishing company tweeted out the release date of her new book, This Fight Is Our Fight.
Warren had previously said she opposed President Trump's nominee to head the Justice Department, but she did not forcefully mount her campaign against the Alabama senator until after publisher Henry Holt announced Tuesday at 3:09 p.m. that her book will be coming out on April 18.
Just announced! Elizabeth Warren's new book, THIS FIGHT IS OUR FIGHT, is on-sale on April 18th. https://t.co/Blq8FpP6kW
— Henry Holt (@HenryHolt) February 7, 2017
About 90 minutes later, Warren shared the link to pre-order her book on Facebook, the Daily Caller News Foundation noted.
Three hours later, Warren was ordered to stand down on the Senate floor because she impugned Sessions' character in violation of Senate Rule 19, which states that senators are not allowed to "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."
Warren had called Sessions a "disgrace," said his confirmation to attorney general would be an "insult to African Americans," and read a 1986 letter from King that accused Sessions of using "the awesome powers of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and other Senate Republicans invoked Rule 19 to bar her from speaking on the Senate floor on Sessions' nomination until after the vote occurred. (The Senate confirmed Sessions to become the next attorney general on Wednesday night.)
Around 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday, hours after the incident on the Senate floor, Warren sent an email to supporters soliciting donations, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported Wednesday evening. The email explained what happened that night and included a donation button.
Minutes after sending her email to supporters, Warren called CNN's Don Lemon to discuss the incident on television.
MoveOn members contributed $250,000 to Warren's re-election campaign in about 12 hours, CNN reported.
Warren received an enormous amount of publicity after she violated Rule 19, which included a trending hashtag #LetLizSpeak on Twitter. Even McConnell's statement on why he invoked Rule 19 against Warren left her with a new hashtag.
"She had appeared to violate the rule. She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted," McConnell said, sparking #ShePersisted to appear throughout Twitter, often accompanied with pictures of historic female figures (and Princess Leia).
"She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted." #ShePersists pic.twitter.com/zibEorqbNq
— Brian Jay Jones (@brianjayjones) February 8, 2017
In the face of racism, in order to get an education, #ShePersisted #ElizabethEckford pic.twitter.com/Tls5WrwnoL
— Kelsey Ratliff (@KelsCalrissian) February 9, 2017
She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted. pic.twitter.com/ebXJRX23Re
— Marc (@MarcSnetiker) February 8, 2017
Warren later unleashed a Twitter storm once Sessions was confirmed on Wednesday, sending out eight tweets that ended with: "Consider this MY warning: We won't be silent. We will speak out. And we WILL persist."