What Does 'Nevertheless, She Persisted' Mean? Mitch McConnell's Quote To Elizabeth Warren Inspires Activists' Tattoos, T-Shirts

When Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stopped Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., from speaking during a debate about attorney general nominee and fellow Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Tuesday night, he inadvertently started a rallying cry.

Warren was reading a 1986 letter written by Coretta Scott King, the wife of civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., opposing Sessions' federal judge nomination. Warren brought up the letter, which lambasts Sessions for his attempts to "intimidate and frighten elderly black voters," as the Senate debated his confirmation to President Donald Trump's cabinet. But McConnell stopped her, citing a rule that forbids senators from speaking out about other senators on the floor, NBC News reported. She was then admonished by the entire chamber.

"She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted," McConnell said.

As the news of Warren's silencing spread Tuesday night into Wednesday, social media users began to use his statement as a rallying cry of sorts. They posted photos of famous women from history, among them abolitionist Harriet Tubman and late actress Carrie Fisher, with McConnell's quote, BuzzFeed News reported. Some used the hashtag #ShePersists, which was trending on Twitter in the U.S. Wednesday morning.

A number of women posted that they wanted to get the phrase "nevertheless, she persisted" tattooed on them in protest.

Others, including TV host Soledad O'Brien and children's book author Kate Messner, tweeted that they wanted a less permanent rendering of the mantra on T-shirts. At least two shirt designs had already cropped up online.

Women have organized online and turned out in force in recent weeks to protest Trump, in January holding hundreds of marches around the world against the new president's stances on issues like reproductive care, immigration and civil rights. Many have cried that Trump does not represent them as president, and some tried to use their ballots to stop him: In November, 54 percent of female voters backed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Just 42 percent supported Trump, according to Pew Research Center data.