DemDaily: In The Words of Cory Booker
April 4, 2025
In a historic act of determination, endurance and fortitude, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker delivered a marathon speech on the Senate floor this week.
The oratorical feat, which lasted 25 hours and 5 minutes -- from March 31 at 7:00pm ET to 8:05pm EDT April 1 -- offered a fiery inspiration and show of strength for a Democratic Party hungry to fight against the all-out assault on democratic institutions and the rule of law by the Trump administration.
Without a majority in either the House or the Senate, congressional Democrats have few legislative options to block or implement change -- turning to procedural maneuvers to try to thwart Republicans.
| This speech set a new record for the longest individual floor speech in Senate history, surpassing the previous record of 24 hours and 18 minutes held by South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond, a segregationist and southern Democrat-turned-Republican who attempted to filibuster the advance of the Civil Rights Act in 1957. Booker’s speech was not technically a filibuster, which is a tactic meant to delay or block a vote on a specific piece of legislation, but under Senate debate rules, a senator who seeks recognition is entitled to speak without limit as long as they do not cede the floor. |
Preparation materials for the speech spanned 1,164 pages, including over 200 stories from New Jerseyans and Americans.
Booker took the floor saying, "Tonight, I rise with the intention of getting in some 'good trouble,'" quoting the late civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis. "I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able...because I believe, sincerely, that our country is in crisis.
"And I believe that not in a partisan sense, because so many of the people that have been reaching out to my office – in pain, in fear, having their lives upended – so many of them identify themselves as Republicans...
"Unnecessary hardships are being borne by Americans of all backgrounds. And institutions which are special in America, which are precious, which are unique in our country, are being recklessly – and I would say even unconstitutionally – affected, attacked, even shattered.
"In just 71 days, the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm on Americans’ safety, financial stability, the core foundations of our democracy, and even our aspirations as a people. From our highest offices: a sense of common decency. These are not normal times in America, and they should not be treated as such.
"John Lewis – so many heroes before us – would say that this is the time to stand up, to speak up. This is the time to get in some good trouble, to get into necessary trouble. I can’t allow this body to continue without doing something different – speaking out. The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent. And we all must do more. We all must do more against them."
| Booker, 55, was first elected to the Senate in a 2013 special election -- becoming the first African-American to represent the Garden State in the upper chamber. He was elected to a full term in 2014 with 55.84% of the vote and in 2020 by over 16%. He previously served as Mayor of Newark and on the Newark City Council. He received a BA and master's Degree from Stanford University and attended Queen's College, Oxford, on a Rhodes Scholarship before attending Yale Law School. As Chair of the Strategic Communications Committee, he holds the #4 spot in leadership. The former 2020 presidential candidate also sits on the Foreign Relations Committee, the Judiciary Committee, and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. |
Throughout his passionate discourse, Booker would sporadically yield for lengthy questions, allowing him to rest his voice while still retaining the floor. Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy stood by Booker for the duration, directing questions from over two dozen Senators who themselves used the opportunity to excoriate the dangerous actions of Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the GOP.
Booker had played the same "aide-de-camp" role for Murphy in 2016 when he held the floor for almost 15 hours to argue for gun control legislation.
The New Jersey Senator pleaded with the American public to speak up, saying, "'If it is to be, it is up to me.' All of us have to think of those 10 words -- 10 two-letter words: 'If it is to be, it is up to me.' Because I believe generations from now will look back at this moment and have a single question: 'Where were you? Where were you when our country was in crisis and when American people were asking for help? Help me. Help me.' Did we speak up?
"When 73 million American seniors, who rely on social security, were to have that promise mocked, attacked, and then to have the services undermined -- to be told that there will be no one there to answer if you call for help – when our seniors became afraid and worried and panicked because of the menacing words of their president, of the most wealthy person in the world, of cabinet secretaries…Did we speak up?
"When the American economy, in 71 days has been upended, when prices at the grocery store were skyrocketing, and the stock market was plunging, when pension funds, 401(k)s, were going down, when Americans were hurting and looking up, where the resounding answer to this question was 'No,' are you better off economically than you were 71 days ago? Where were you? Did you speak up?"
| "If America hasn’t broken your heart, then you don’t love her enough." - Senator Cory Booker |
"At a time when the president of the United States was launching trade wars against our closest allies, when he was firing regulators who investigate America’s biggest banks and biggest corporations – and stop them from taking advantage of the little guy, or the little gal, or my grandmother, or your grandfather – dismantling the agency that protects consumers from fraud, the only one whose sole purpose is to look out for them…Did you speak up?
"When the president of the United States, in a way that is so crass and craven, peddled his own meme coin and made millions upon millions upon millions of dollars for his own bank account -- at a time so many are struggling economically -- did you speak up?
"Did you speak up when the president of the United States tried to take healthcare away?...Threatening a program called Medicaid, which helps people with disabilities, helps expectant mothers, helps millions upon millions of Americans – and why? Why? As part of a larger plan to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest among us, who’ve done the best over the last 20 years.
"For billionaires who seem so close to the president that they sat right on the dais at his inauguration and sit in his cabinet meetings at the White House.
"Did you speak up when he gutted public education, slashed funds for pediatric cancer research, fired thousands of veterans who risked their lives for their country? When he abandoned our allies and our international commitments?
"At a time when floods, fires, hurricanes and droughts are devastating communities across this country -- when countries all around the world are banding together to do something -- and he turned his back?
"Where were you when the American press was being censored? When international students were being disappeared from American streets without due process? When American universities were being intimidated into silence, challenging that fundamental idea of freedom of thought, freedom of expression?"
| Booker prepared for the speech with some unusual physical techniques, telling reporters that he had fasted for days before the speech and stopped drinking fluids the night before. He couldn’t sit or go to the bathroom for the entire session, did not wear a catheter or a diaper, did not eat, and appeared to have nothing more than a couple of glasses of water to sustain him. As a result, he suffered from cramps throughout the day. |
"Or what about when the people who attacked the police officers -- who defended this building and American democracy -- on January 6, who just outside those doors put their lives on the line for us, and many of them would later die…Where were you when the president pardoned them, celebrated them, and even talked of giving them money -- people who savagely beat American police officers?
"Did you speak up when Americans from across the country were all speaking up -- more and more voices in this country speaking up -- saying: 'This is not right. This is un-American. This is not who we are. This is not America.' Did you speak up?
"And so I rise tonight because I believe to be about what is normal right now, when so much abnormal is happening, is unacceptable.
"I rise tonight because silence at this moment of national crisis would be a betrayal of some of the greatest heroes of our nation. Because at stake in this moment is nothing less than everything that we brag about, that we talk about, that makes us special.
"At stake right now are some of our most basic American principles – principles that so many Americans understand are worth fighting for, worth standing for, worth speaking up for."
In closing, an indefatigable Booker said, "I believe there is an urgent crisis in our country that we are not talking about. It is not a left-right crisis, it's a right-wrong crisis. It's a moral moment in America that will define our country for years and years to come.
"I don't know how to solve this. I don't know how to stop us from going down this road. I am sorry. But I know who does have the power: the people of the United States of America. The power of the people is greater than the people in power."
| Booker's speech garnered more than 350 million likes on TikTok and over 28,000 voicemails of encouragement on his office phone line. At one point, more than 300,000 people were tuned in across social media platforms to watch his speech. Said one Senate staffer, "In today’s fractured media environment, Booker singlehandedly drove the narrative." |
DemList will keep you informed.
DemList
Connecting You to The Party
Connecting You to Each Other
Kimberly Scott
Publisher
| DemList relies on individual donors to support our work. Please contribute $15, $25 or $50 here today! |
Please Support Our Work!
SignUp for the Daily updates on issues, politics and the players.
Follow on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and BlueSky
Sources: New York Times, Intelligencer, CBS, The Guardian, CommonDreams, US Senate, CNN
DemDaily column will publish on a modified schedule in April while our Publisher recovers from hand surgery
