#MondayNightMassacre: Internet scalds Trump for firing 'god damned American hero' Sally Yates

Donald Trump on Monday fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates over her refusal to enforce Trump’s executive order restricting travel from several predominantly Muslim countries.

The move comes mere hours after it was reported that Yates told Justice Department lawyers not to defend Trump’s order, which the president signed on Friday to the chagrin of citizens and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Yates was named deputy attorney general by former President Barack Obama and asked by the Trump administration to remain as acting head of the Justice Department by Trump pending Senate confirmation of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL).

“@POTUS has named Dana Boente, US Attorney for the Eastern District of VA as Acting Attorney General,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer wrote Monday night. “Sally Yates has been relieved.”

In a statement, the White House said Yates “betrayed” the Trump administration with her decision.

“Ms. Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration,” the White House said.

The move prompted observers to rail against the “fascist” undertones of Trump’s decision, with many using the hashtag #MondayNightMassacre to describe the events. The hashtag—which was trending on Twitter Monday night—is a clear allusion to Richard Nixon’s Saturday Night Massacre, wherein Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus resigned in protest after the former president demanded they fire a special prosecutor appointed to investigate the Watergate scandal.

Read some of the best reactions below: