Cory Booker’s 25 Hour Speech
On the evening of Monday March 31st, Senator Cory Booker took a stand on the Senate Floor, calling out the Trump Administration. The 55 year old New Jersey native spoke on the Senate floor for 25 hours and 5 minutes.
Writers Mike Catalini and Stephen Groves, in their 2025 article for the Associated Press, “Cory Booker sets a record with marathon Senate speech. Will it rally anti-Trump resistance?”, write, “Booker took to the Senate floor on Monday evening, saying he would remain there as long as he was ‘physically able’…It wasn’t until 25 hours and 5 minutes later that the 55-year-old senator, a former football tight end, finished speaking and limped off the 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.”
The Democratic Party has been under intense scrutiny regarding their handling of the 2024 election and its aftermath. Moreover, Booker’s empowered speech was a call out to himself and the party as well. “I confess that I have been imperfect. I confess that I’ve been inadequate to the moment. I confess that the Democratic Party has made terrible mistakes that gave a lane to this demagogue,” Booker said. “I confess we all must look in the mirror and say ‘we will do better.’” With recent headlines surrounding Trump’s attempt to dismantle the Department of Education, his ongoing war on immigration with ICE raids, and his controversial tariffs, Booker’s stance was one of determination, defiance, and duty. His 25 hour and 5 minute speech became the longest speech in history, breaking a record set in 1957 by then Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina in his attempt to advance the Civil Rights Act.
”In just 71 days, the president has inflicted harm after harm on Americans’ safety, financial stability, the foundations of our democracy and any sense of common decency,” Booker said, “these are not normal times in our nation. And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate.”
Booker’s sentiments highlight the underbelly of the American conscience regarding the first 90 days of the Trump Administration. Upon the conclusion of his speech on April 1st, over 28,000 voicemails of praise and encouragement were left at his office as well as over 350 million likes on his TikTok page livestreaming speech. (Data taken from Booker’s website.) But the question at hand is will this translate beyond just vanity metrics? It is clear Booker’s speech struck a chord but will that chord last long enough to make an impact? And if so, what will that impact be?
