Elizabeth Warren, Democratic senator from Massachusetts, was going to read a letter written by the widow of Martin Luther King Jr. 30 years ago on the Senate floor. She never got the chance to finish the letter because the Senate GOP voted to silence her. They claimed Warren violated Senate rules by impugning another senator. After the voting, Senator Warren read the letter on a Facebook Live post that accumulated millions of views. Within a matter of hours, MoveOn members had contributed over $250,000 dollars to her 2018 re-election campaign. #LetLizSpeak was one of the top trending hashtags on Twitter for hours as the news of her silencing began to spread around the country. “I will not be silent about a nominee for AG who has made derogatory & racist comments that have no place in our justice system,” she wrote on Twitter. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell defended the use of Rule 19, a very rarely used regulation that prohibits senators from calling into question the character of another senator. “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted,” said the Republican senator from Kentucky. The Democratic Party defended Elizabeth Warren in a statement that read: “It’s a sad day in America when the words of Martin Luther King Jr.’s widow are not allowed on the floor of the United States Senate. Let Elizabeth Warren speak.” Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah said, “We have to treat each other with respect or this place is going to devolve into a jungle.” Needless to say, there is a gridlock in Washington to the likes of which many of us have never seen. Elizabeth Warren is a strong, early favorite Democratic presidential nominee, and you can bet she won’t stop challenging the actions of President Trump.