Twenty-Five Hours and One Voice: Cory Booker’s Stand

Journalist Dereck Alegria explores Cory Brooker's 25 hour stand

On April 1st, 2025, Senator Cory Booker broke the record for the longest solo speech in American history. In his 25 hour oration, he expressed his criticisms with the Trump administration, specifically its efforts in budget cutting.

Booker brought 15 binders that contained 1,160 pages of documents that he would read from for as long as he was “physically able” to. The New Jerseysian spoke about his fears on how Trump’s policies could affect Americans, particularly with alleged funding cuts to social programs like Medicare and Social Security. He referenced important historical documents various times, including the US Constitution, MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, the Bible, works from Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln’s Address as well as his Second Inaugural Address.

Through these, he attempted to turn history against Trump and highlight how immoral the planned policies are. The speech has increased the morale of the Democratic party after a devastating loss for them in the November 2024 elections.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer congratulated Booker’s efforts by saying “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.” Schumer himself had been subject to criticism for being one of the most powerful of Democrats and not doing anything to stop the policies of the Trump administration in Congress.

President Trump did not respond to Booker’s speech publicly. However, it’s likely that he had a similar reaction to his Republican colleagues. Republican Senators Josh Hawley from Missouri and John Cornyn from Texas criticized Booker’s speech for being performative and not making an impact to solve problems.

It is also an important moment for African Americans. While Booker’s speech wasn’t technically considered a filibuster, he still stole the record for the longest marathon speech in US history from Strom Thurmond, an avid segregationist who spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes to delay the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

In polls for the 2028 Democratic Presidential nominee, Booker jumped from polling 2% to 9%. In polls without Kamala Harris, Booker sits at 2nd. Being a presidential candidate himself in 2020, he is sure to take these into consideration when deciding his future in the political scene.