Sen. Cory Booker spoke on the Senate floor for 25 hours and 5 minutes — the longest floor speech in U.S. Senate history — to protest the Trump administration.
“I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able,” the New Jersey Democrat said right off the bat, shortly after he began his speech at 7 p.m. EST on Monday evening.
The speech ended up lasting until Tuesday evening. It was an attempt to object to President Trump’s proposed cuts to the federal government, rally Democratic opposition, and capitalize on the attention Booker was getting online with his marathon.
Booker passed the time in a variety of ways, such as by reading a poem and constituents’ letters about their fears that the Trump administration will eventually cut Social Security and Medicaid. At times, Booker’s voice cracked and he fought back tears, such as when he read a letter from a Parkinson’s patient who pleaded with him to protect social safety nets:
“‘Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative brain disease that progresses over time.’ Sorry, I’m thinking about my dad,” the 55-year-old said after a pause, his voice thick with tears.
“‘I will need progressive and comprehensive care as I age. I will need medication every single day of my life. And I will need the security of a generous society to care for me,’” Booker said as he continued to read the constituent’s letter. “Protect my Social Security.’”
Booker did get some help: A chorus of Democratic senators gave him breaks to ask questions and give their own short speeches so Booker could rest his voice. That meant this was not technically a filibuster. But Booker surpassed Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) record (21 hours and 19 minutes) for the longest speech for a sitting senator, an oration that protested the Affordable Care Act. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina had the record for the longest individual speech, at 24 hours and 18 minutes, when he railed against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
Booker’s communications director told NPR that the senator did not use a catheter or a diaper while he spoke for the entire 25 hours without a bathroom break, although Booker, a former football tight end, sidestepped the question, per ABC News. Instead, Booker said he fasted — not eating since Friday and not drinking anything since Sunday — in order to prevent himself from needing to relieve himself.
