New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker sets record with marathon speech, topping Strom Thurmond

It's officially a record-breaking speech.

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker took to the Senate floor Monday evening saying he would remain there as long as he was “physically able.”

After speaking for 24 hours and 19 minutes, Booker officially broke the record for the longest continuous speech ever given in the Senate.

Despite appearing plainly exhausted, the 55-year-old former football tight end continued for nearly another hour after breaking the record, ultimately yielding the floor after 25 hours and four minutes.

Booker helped provide a moment of historical solace for a party searching for its way forward: His speech surpassed that of then-Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, a segregationist who filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957, according to the Senate's website.

“I’m here because as powerful as he was, the people are more powerful,” said Booker, who spoke openly on the Senate floor of his roots as the descendant of both slaves and slave-owners.

Booker repeatedly invoked Thurmond and the civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis of Georgia on Tuesday morning, arguing that changing history would require the public to get involved, and more than just talking.

“You think we got civil rights one day because Strom Thurmond — after filibustering for 24 hours — you think we got civil rights because he came to the floor one day and said, ‘I’ve seen the light,’” Booker said. ”No, we got civil rights because people marched for it, sweat for it and John Lewis bled for it."

Booker centered his speech on a call for his party to find its resolve, saying, “We all must look in the mirror and say, ‘We will do better.’”

“These are not normal times in our nation," Booker said at the start of his speech. “And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate. The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more to stand against them.”

WATCH BOOKER'S SPEECH IN THE PLAYER ABOVE

Pacing, shifting his feet, then at times leaning on his podium, Booker highlighted Democrats' objections to President Donald Trump's agenda. He railed against cuts to Social Security offices led by Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and spoke to concerns that broader cuts to the social safety net could be coming, though Republican lawmakers say the program won't be touched.

Booker also read what he said were letters from constituents, donning and doffing his reading glasses. One writer was alarmed by the Republican president's talk of annexing Greenland and Canada and a “looming constitutional crisis.”

As his speech rolled into Tuesday evening, Booker got some help from Democratic colleagues, who gave him a break from speaking to ask him a question. Booker said he would yield for questions but would not give up the Senate floor. He stayed standing to comply with Senate rules.

“Your strength, your fortitude, your clarity has just been nothing short of amazing and all of America is paying attention to what you’re saying,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said as he asked Booker a question on the Senate floor. “All of America needs to know there’s so many problems, the disastrous actions of this administration.”

As Booker stood for hour after hour, he appeared to have nothing more than a couple glasses of water to sustain him. Yet his voice grew strong with emotion as his speech stretched into the evening, and House members from the Congressional Black Caucus stood on the edge of the Senate floor to support Booker.

“I shall not complain,” Booker said with a laugh after one colleague asked how he was doing Tuesday afternoon.

“Moments like this require us to be more creative or more imaginative, or just more persistent and dogged and determined,” the senator said.

Booker's cousin and brother, as well as Democratic aides, watched from the chamber's gallery. Sen. Chris Murphy accompanied Booker on the Senate floor throughout the day and night. Murphy was returning the comradeship that Booker had given to him in 2016 when the Connecticut Democrat held the floor for almost 15 hours to argue for gun control legislation.

As anticipation in the Capitol grew that he would supplant Thurmond, who died in 2003, as the record holder for the longest Senate floor speech, Democratic senators sat at their desks to listen and the Senate gallery filled with onlookers. The chamber exploded in applause as Schumer announced that Booker had broken the record.

Booker had already surpassed the longest speech time for a sitting senator — the 21 hours and 19 minutes that Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, had held the floor to contest the Affordable Care Act in 2013. Responding to his record being broken, Cruz posted a meme of Homer Simpson crying on social media.

Booker's speech was not a filibuster, which is a speech meant to halt the advance of a specific piece of legislation. Instead, Booker's performance was a broader critique of Trump's agenda, meant to hold up the Senate's business and draw attention to what Democrats are doing to contest the president. Without a majority in either congressional chamber, Democrats have been almost completely locked out of legislative power but are turning to procedural maneuvers to try to thwart Republicans.

Booker is serving his second term in the Senate. He was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in 2020, when he launched his campaign from the steps of his home in Newark. He dropped out after struggling to gain a foothold in a packed field, falling short of the threshold to meet in a January 2020 debate.

But as Democrats search for a next generation of leadership, frustrated with the old-timers at the top, Booker's speech could cement his status as a leading figure in the party.

On Tuesday afternoon, tens of thousands of people were watching on Booker’s Senate YouTube page, as well as on other live streams.

As Democratic colleagues made their way to the Senate chamber to help Booker by asking him questions, he also made heartfelt tributes to his fellow senators, recalling their personal backgrounds and shared experiences in the Senate. Booker also called on Americans to respond not just with resistance to Trump’s actions but with kindness and generosity for those in their communities.

Booker said, “I may be afraid — my voice may shake — but I’m going to speak up more."