Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) made Senate history Tuesday evening after speaking for more than 24 hours on the chamber floor, eclipsing the previous record for the longest Senate speech held by the late Sen. Strom Thurmond.
At 7:19 p.m., Booker set the new record with a marathon speech of 24 hours and 19 minutes that first began Monday at 7 p.m. in a symbolic protest of President Donald Trump’s second term.
“If I stood here — maybe, just maybe — I could break this record of the man who tried to stop the rights upon which I stand,” Booker, who is black, said of Thurmond, the South Carolina Republican who set the previous record of 24 hours and 18 minutes to delay passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
“I’m not here though because of his speech. I’m here despite his speech,” Booker added. “I’m here because as powerful as he was, the people were more powerful.”
He concluded his remarks shortly after 8 p.m., setting a new record of 25 hours and four minutes. The senator had water on his desk but hadn’t physically left the Senate floor for any breaks.
Staying true to his initial mission to hold control of the floor and halt all other legislative business for as long as he was “physically able” to do so, Booker took only brief breaks over the past 24 hours to allow Democratic colleagues to speak in his place.
The New Jersey Democrat was not protesting any single proposed bill and was therefore not a filibuster despite temporarily preventing the Republican majority from voting on other measures and presidential nominees.
Rather, Booker stated he was motivated by a “complete disregard for the rule of law, the Constitution, and the needs of the American people” by Trump and Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and close Trump confidant who manages the administration’s spending cuts and layoffs through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
As Booker crossed the threshold marking a new record, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) interjected to acknowledge the feat, prompting applause and cheers from senators, staff, and onlookers who assembled in the chamber to witness the moment.
“I don’t want to wrap this up yet,” Booker said as he launched into his next topic of discussion, which ranged widely throughout the day but centered on Trump’s actions.
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Among those with some of the longest speeches throughout Senate history whom he surpassed was Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the previous record-holder for a sitting senator from his 21 hours and 19 minutes speech to contest the Affordable Care Act in 2013.
Cruz responded in jest by posting a meme on social media featuring a crying Homer Simpson.
