The seemingly never-ending Benghazi hearing saw Hillary Clinton questioned for 11 hours on Thursday in an effort to show that the former secretary of state failed to protect American diplomats and special forces in the months leading up to the 2012 terror attack in Benghazi, Libya.
And while the Democrat presidential candidate endured the grueling ordeal with grace and poise, social media exploded with pleas for it to be over.
The hashtag #FreeHillary quickly trended when Clinton’s testimony finally ended, with many making jokes about what they’d achieved since the hearing began on Thursday morning in Washington, D.C.
“I could have run two marathons and had a nap in the amount of time Hillary Clinton has been testifying,” one Facebook user wrote.
“I’ve gone from being completely shaved to growing a beard during the #BenghaziCommittee hearings,” another said on Twitter.
One witty Twitter user went on to compare Clinton’s relief at the end of the hearing to a scene from “Absolutely Fabulous” with a GIF of Patsy (Joanna Lumley) swigging a glass of champagne.
A smart conspiracy theory was that chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina only ended the questioning session when he saw it was trending on Twitter.
Or was it Clinton’s White House rivals trying to keep her tied up until after the election in November 2016?
See the tweets below.
https://twitter.com/sumedhlal/status/657359826419363840
https://twitter.com/cassandra17lina/status/657356177651691520
https://twitter.com/cyotha/status/657361762266705920
@maddow Hope someone @msnbc noticed that Gowdy decided to end the hearing only when #FreeHillary started trending.
— Maridee Now (@marideenow) October 23, 2015
https://twitter.com/dana_kujan/status/657392118206504960
https://twitter.com/mfambloggette/status/657405803369005057
https://twitter.com/ishkabob/status/657399560159891456
https://twitter.com/Alasscan_/status/657358157358870528
https://twitter.com/marjanelise/status/657357450698469376
She is still fighting back after 10 hours. See seems like a leader to me when she defends her team. #BenghaziCommittee #FreeHillary
— Lisa C Young (@youngGR) October 23, 2015
Wait – is their strategy to keep her locked in the hearing room answering questions through November '16? #BenghaziCommittee #FreeHillary
— Ringuette (@Ringuette) October 23, 2015
If the hearing lasts until 3 a.m., someone absolutely has to call her cell phone right in the middle of her testimony. #FreeHillary
— M.S. Bellows, Jr. msbellows@c.im (@msbellows) October 23, 2015
https://twitter.com/proben/status/657355771521298432
STAND DOWN! This is turning into a hostage situation. #freehillary #BenghaziCommittee
— Lisa Talmadge 🐝 (@LisaTalmadge) October 23, 2015
Unbreakable! She's alive, dammit! It's a miracle! Females are strong as hell. #BenghaziCommittee #FreeHillary
— Sarah Carlson (@sarahkcarlson) October 23, 2015
How dare we serfs expect @HillaryClinton to obey the same laws we do. #FreeHillary
— The🐰FOO (@PolitiBunny) October 23, 2015