Failed Democrat Presidential candidate and former Vice President Kamala Harris praised Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) after he delivered a marathon speech on the Senate floor.
Booker made history after delivering the longest Senate speech on record, for a total of over 25 hours. In a post shared to his account over 13 hours into the speech, Booker asserted his intention was to “lift the voices of Americans who are being harmed by President Trump.”
“I’m heading to the Senate floor because Donald Trump and Elon Musk have shown a complete disregard for the rule of law, the Constitution, and the needs of the American people,” he said prior to his speech.
It’s been over 13 hours since I started speaking, and I intend to stay on the Senate floor as long as I’m physically able. I’m here to do my job, as a Senator from New Jersey, to lift the voices of Americans who are being harmed by President Trump. I'm am speaking up. pic.twitter.com/dCjhYAP8NL
— Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBooker) April 1, 2025
You may be wondering: what are the longest speeches in senate floor history?
— haley talbot (@haleytalbotcnn) April 1, 2025
24 hours 18 mins
Strom Thurmond
1957
23 hours 30 mins
Alfonse D'Amato
1986
22 hours 26 mins
Wayne Morse
1953
21 hours 19 mins
Ted Cruz
2013
18 hours 23 mins
Robert La Follette, Sr
1908
I’m heading to the Senate floor because Donald Trump and Elon Musk have shown a complete disregard for the rule of law, the Constitution, and the needs of the American people. You can tune in on CSPAN, YouTube, X, and Facebook.
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) March 31, 2025
Harris was among those who praised Booker for his stunt.
“The true measure of a leader is not based on who you beat down but on who you lift up,” she said, sharing a photo of the two speaking alongside her caption.
“For over 24 hours, my friend @corybooker stood on the floor of the Senate and lifted up the voices of the American people harmed by the current administration,” she continued.
“We must continue to fight for the best of who we are as Americans,” Harris added. “Thank you, Cory, for your leadership.”
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“I may be tired and a little hoarse, but as I said again and again on the Senate floor, this is a moment where we cannot afford to be silent, when we must speak up,” Booker said on social media after his speech:
What’s most clear to me tonight is that this is just the beginning, that Americans across this country, no matter their title or party, are ready to be heard. I believe that history will show we rose to meet this moment. It will show we did not let the chaos and division go unanswered. It will show that when our president chose to spread lies and sow fear, we chose to come together, to work together, and to rise together.
I may be tired and a little hoarse, but as I said again and again on the Senate floor, this is a moment where we cannot afford to be silent, when we must speak up.
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) April 2, 2025
What’s most clear to me tonight is that this is just the beginning, that Americans across this country, no matter…
Speaking to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Booker admitted that the Senate speech record held by Democrat Sen. Strom Thurmond (D-SC) “irked me,” referencing the Democrat’s filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
“And to be candid, Strom Thurmond’s record always kind of just really irked me… the longest speech on our great Senate floor was someone who was trying to stop people like me from being in the Senate,” he said.
“So to surpass that was something I didn’t know if we could do, but it was something that was really once we got closer, became more and more important to me,” Booker added.
