The hashtag “LeningradLindsey” trended on Twitter Thursday after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) forced a controversial asylum bill through committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced a bill to overhaul U.S. asylum laws, waiving committee rules to force the bill through to the full Senate, where it likely won’t get the 60 votes it needs to pass.
But Graham’s move to push the bill through the panel outraged Democrats who say the South Carolina senator broke the rules on how lawmakers take up legislation in order to move a partisan bill along.{mosads}
Hundreds started using the hashtag invoking Leningrad — the Soviet-era name of the Russian city of St. Petersburg — slamming Graham for the move.
“#LeningradLindsey is breaking procedural code, lying to the American people, and has betrayed the principles this country was founded upon,” one person tweeted.
“Resign, #LeningradLindsey,” another tweeted.
Many used the hashtag in conjunction with #MoscowMitch, which has also been trending on social media since Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) last week blocked two election security bills, despite warnings from former special counsel Robert Mueller that Russian interference would likely occur in the 2020 election.