By: Kimberley Richards
Rep. Marilyn Strickland is winning praise online for responding to Scott Jennings with a motion that needed no words — but spoke volumes, according to experts.
Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.) found quite the effective way to prevent conservative commentator Scott Jennings from interrupting her during a joint appearance on CNN on Thursday — and the moment is resonating with many people.
During one point in a segment of “NewsNight with Abby Phillip,” Strickland discussed President Donald Trump, his billionaire adviser Elon Musk and the mass layoffs and dismantling of federal agencies that the so-called Department of Government Efficiency has directed since Trump took office in January.
“All these random cuts they’re making, all these departments that they don’t even hardly know very well, are hurting the American people,” Strickland said. “How is putting veterans out of work lowering the cost of living?”
Jennings then tried to interject, but the congresswoman wasn’t having it. She quickly held up her index finger in a gesture to silence Jennings — and it worked. The conservative pundit stopped talking and Strickland continued on with her remarks without missing a beat. (Catch the moment at the 2:20 mark in the video below.)
It was a brief moment, but its significance was loud and clear for many on X, formerly Twitter, who celebrated the gesture.
“With one motion, she says ‘oh I’m not done,’” one X user wrote.
“That finger, displayed for a millisecond, had Jennings shook,” wrote another.
Others reveled in the fact that Jennings — a staunch defender of Trump who is known to engage in contentious debates on CNN — appeared “dumbfounded” and said it was empowering to watch a woman silence him the way she did.
Kari J. Winter, professor of American studies at the University at Buffalo, told HuffPost that she believes people are celebrating this moment between Strickland and Jennings because “we’re living in a moment where aggression from MAGA folks is so extreme and constant … and a lot of times Democrats look like deer caught in the headlights.”
Winter ― whose expertise includes gender, feminism, race, class, slavery, politics of food and literature ― said that Democrats are often “not responding forcefully” and that Strickland delivered a “perfect gesture” toward Jennings in that moment.
“There was so much strength behind it,” she said, adding that Strickland used her finger to “maintain the floor when a man — and a very aggressive man — was trying to take the floor away from her.”
“She needed to finish making the point that she was making,” Winter continued. “I think that was a beautiful, powerful moment, and I would like to see that emulated much more in the country right now.”