Cory Booker's attack on Donald Trump sets record as longest Senate speech

Although Booker's speech ended shortly after 8 p.m. and was not a filibuster, its attention signaled that Democrats are already focusing on the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential race

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By John Harney

 

Senator Cory Booker on Tuesday evening set a chamber record by assailing the policies of President Donald Trump in a speech that lasted more than 24 hours.  

“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,” Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, said in a post on X before beginning his marathon address about 7 p.m. on Monday. The speech broke a record set by Senator Strom Thurmond, a South Carolina Democrat, who spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes in a failed attempt to defeat the Civil Rights Act of 1957 with a filibuster. He later became a Republican. 

Although Booker’s speech, which ended shortly after 8 p.m., was not a filibuster, the attention it attracted showed that Democrats have begun to look ahead at the midterm elections of 2026 and the presidential race of 2028 after the devastating losses of last November. 

 

As he surpassed Thurmond’s record, applause and loud cheers broke out and Booker put his hand over his heart. 

 

“I want to not quite wrap this up yet,” he quipped. “I’d like to go a little further if we can.”  

 

As Wall Street investors, business executives and some voters have expressed wariness and misgivings over the mass firings of government workers carried out by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency as well as Trump’s determination to impose sweeping tariffs on allies and adversaries alike, progressive heroes Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have attracted big crowds at rallies around the country.

 

At the same time, prominent Democratic governors including JB Pritzker of Illinois, Gavin Newsom of California, Wes Moore of Maryland and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan have emerged as potential leaders for a party that has been shut out of power in the White House and both houses Congress.