Booker took to the Senate floor on Monday evening, saying he would remain there as long as he was “physically able” in a move of defiance against President Donald Trump’s actions.
New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker finally stepped off the Senate floor on Tuesday after speaking for a record-breaking 25 hours and five minutes.
As he began his speech on Monday evening, he vowed to speak as long as he was “physically able,” setting a historic mark aiming to show Democrats’ resistance to President Donald Trump’s sweeping actions. He was assisted by fellow Democrats who gave him a break from speaking by asking him questions on the Senate floor.
It was a remarkable show of stamina as Democrats try to show their frustrated supporters that they are doing everything possible to contest Trump’s agenda. Yet Booker also provided a moment of historical solace for a party searching for its way forward: By standing on the Senate floor for more than a night and day and refusing to leave, he had broken a record set 68 years ago by then Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, a segregationist and southern Democrat, to filibuster the advance of the Civil Rights Act in 1957.
“I’m here despite his speech,” said Booker, who spoke openly on the Senate floor of his roots as the descendant of both slaves and slave-owners. He added, “I’m here because as powerful as he was, the people are more powerful.”
In his speech, Booker slammed cuts to Social Security offices led by Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. He also read what he said were letters from constituents, including about Trump’s talk of annexing Greenland and Canada and a “looming constitutional crisis.”
Booker, serving his second Senate term, was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in 2020, when he launched his campaign from the steps of his home in Newark. He dropped out after struggling to gain a foothold in a packed field, falling short of the threshold to meet in a January 2020 debate.
But as Democrats search for a next generation of leadership, frustrated with the old-timers at the top, Booker’s speech could cement his status as a leading figure in the party.
On Tuesday afternoon, tens of thousands of people were watching on Booker’s Senate YouTube page, as well as on other live streams. A small group gathered outside the Capitol to cheer him on.
Booker said he was ultimately calling on all Americans to respond not just with resistance to Trump’s actions but with kindness and generosity for those in their communities.
He said, “I may be afraid — my voice may shake — but I’m going to speak up more.”