Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey broke the report Tuesday for the longest speech on the Senate flooring, yielding after 25 hours and 5 minutes.
“Tonight, I rise with the intention of getting in some good trouble,” he mentioned, referencing the late civil rights pioneer Rep. John Lewis.
Booker’s speech surpassed that of Strom Thurmond, whose 1957 speech advocating towards civil rights lasted 24 hours—a objective of which Booker particularly had in thoughts. And all of his planning didn’t go in useless.
In response to The New York Occasions, greater than 14,000 individuals referred to as Booker’s workplace from the time he started his speech Monday till he yielded the ground.
He reached younger voters on TikTok, amassing greater than 350 million “likes” on movies of his speech posted to his profile. On YouTube, his movies have greater than 140,000 views. And throughout social media, the left is praising Booker for lighting a fireplace beneath the Democratic Celebration.
Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California jumped in on the reward for her colleague, thanking him for “standing up for our values and all Americans” in a put up on X.
“The list of concerns about the Trump Administration is endless, but your stamina in opposition is boundless,” she wrote.
Equally, President John F. Kennedy’s grandson Jack Schlossberg echoed Democrats’ pleasure following Booker’s marathon speech.
“ANY TOUGHER AND HE’D RUST. Senator Booker displaying the best way,” he wrote on X.
Booker’s speech is actually a welcome sight for Democratic voters, who’ve been ready for celebration leaders to combat again towards President Donald Trump.
Republican political marketing consultant Frank Luntz informed The Hill that Booker’s speech might have put himself on the map for a presidential run in 2028.
“He struck the kind of tone that grassroots Democrats are looking for. He gave them a reason to fight. He gave them a reason to stand up and say, this is my country too,” he mentioned.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris additionally praised Booker’s “ leadership”—which may carry vital weight contemplating her personal presidential run in 2024.
“The true measure of a leader is not based on who you beat down but on who you lift up. For over 24 hours, my friend [Booker] stood on the floor of the Senate and lifted up the voices of the American people harmed by the current administration,” she wrote on X. “We must continue to fight for the best of who we are as Americans.”
Correction: A earlier model of this story misspelled Strom Thurmond’s identify.
