Cory Booker Sets Record During Anti-Donald Trump Marathon Speech

Cory Booker made history with the longest speech ever delivered on the Senate floor.

On Tuesday night (Apr. 1), Booker rallied in the final hours of his marathon speech aimed at Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the current administration, calling for actions against the president’s sweeping executive orders that he deemed “unconstitutional.”

Booker also took aim at the late Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, a known segregationist and Democrat, who last held the title for longest Senate floor speech as he attempted to filibuster the Civil Rights Act of 1957. “I’m here despite his speech,” Booker said. “I’m here because as powerful as he was, the people are more powerful.”

After 25 hours into his speech, Booker received a standing ovation from a packed Senate, full of Democrats, applauding the New Jersey politician for his feat of determination. Democratic figures like Chuck Schumer drew attention to the fact that Booker, a Black man, broke the record last held by a segregationist and exclaimed how monumental the feat was.

Ahead of the historic moment, the former football player spoke of his intentions with his Senate floor speech in a video released to his social media.

“I’ve been hearing from people all over my state and indeed all over the nation calling upon folks in Congress to do more, to do things that recognize the urgency, the crisis of the moment,” Booker expressed in a video posted to social media beforehand. “And so we all have a responsibility, I believe, to do something different, to cause — as [late Rep.] John Lewis said — ‘good trouble,’ and that includes me.”

Watch the videos of the record-breaking feat above.