03 April 2025 - US Senator Cory Booker's 25-Hour Speech
Booker makes a stand against Trump – and doesn’t stop for 25 hours
David Smith (The Guardian, 02/04/2025)
“Would the senator yield for a question?” asked Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. Senator Cory Booker, who on a long day’s journey into night had turned himself into the fighter that many Democrats were yearning for, replied with a wry smile: “Chuck Schumer, it’s the only time in my life I can tell you no.” But Schumer wasn’t taking no for an answer. “I just wanted to tell you, a question, do you know you have just broken the record? Do you know how proud this caucus is of you? Do you know how proud America is of you?”
Cory Booker sets a record with marathon Senate speech. Will it rally anti-Trump resistance?
Mike Catalini and Stephen Groves (AP News, 02/04/2025)
In a feat of determination, New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker held the Senate floor with a marathon speech that lasted all night and into Tuesday night, setting a historic mark to show Democrats’ resistance to President Donald Trump’s sweeping actions.
Sen. Cory Booker on his marathon, 25-hour speech on the Senate floor
Juana Summers, Tyler Bartlam, Patrick Jarenwattananon (NPR, 02/04/2025)
On Monday evening, Sen. Cory Booker stood on the Senate floor and began a speech criticizing the Trump administration. The 55-year-old Democrat from New Jersey kept talking and talking — through the night and into the next day — for 25 hours and 5 minutes. He did not sit. He did not eat. He did not use the restroom. "The body is weary in a lot of places, from my back to my feet and to my legs, I'm just feeling it," Booker told All Things Considered host Juana Summers. "But my soul is soaring and I feel very blessed by the whole experience."
US Senator Cory Booker just spoke for 25 hours in Congress. What was he trying to achieve?
Bruce Wolpe (The Conversation, 02/04/2025)
The Democrats have been under intense pressure to find an effective way to challenge US President Donald Trump without control of either chamber of Congress or a de facto opposition leader. They may have just found one. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker took the Senate floor on Monday evening in Washington to give a speech lambasting Trump’s actions. He didn’t stop talking – aside for the occasional question from a fellow Democrat – until Tuesday night, 25 hours later. So, how common are these types of speeches in the US Congress, and what’s the point?
Portrait of Cory Booker. Wikipedia, Public domain.