Cory Anthony Booker, a United States senator from New Jersey, broke the record for the longest Senate speech at 25 hours and 5 minutes.
Contrary to popular belief, this was not a filibuster. A filibuster is when one or more legislative body members pose a prolonged debate on proposed legislation to delay or entirely prevent a decision. Booker’s address was aimed at protesting against President Donald Trump, not necessarily a specific piece of legislation.
The previous record was held by Sen. Strom Thurmon, who spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act. Sen. Strom Thurman was a Democrat during his filibuster, but his beliefs most closely resemble those of a modern-day Republican.
Cory Booker is a 55-year-old fourth-ranking Democrat in the Senate chamber who, unlike Thurmon, did not take any bathroom or food breaks during his speech. Instead, Booker spent the time reading letters from constituents who had been harmed by President Trump’s policies, reciting poetry, taking questions from colleagues, and discussing sports. Booker also spoke of his roots as a descendant of both slaves and slave owners.
Booker streamed his speech live on his TikTok account and it got over 350 million “likes” and 110,000 people were watching when Booker ended his speech with an homage to a mentor, the civil rights pioneer John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat who spent three decades in Congress.
The Democratic Party has no power in the White House, Senate, or House of Representatives, but the Democrats praised Booker for his historic contribution.
