It took 25 hours and 5 minutes to do it.
That is how long it took Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) to make history by giving the longest floor speech in Senate history, per The Hill.
The speech — denouncing President Donald Trump’s spending cuts — lasted 25-hours, 4-minutes. It broke the previous record made by Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.). in 1957 when he spoke against the Civil Rights Act.
Booker took note of Thurmond as he was closer to breaking the record.
“To hate him is wrong, and maybe my ego got too caught up in if I stood here maybe, maybe — just maybe — I could break this record of the man who tried to stop the rights upon which I stand,” Booker said. “I’m not here, though, because of his speech. I’m here despite his speech. I’m here because as powerful as he was, the people were more powerful.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) lauded Booker about the record.
“Do you know you’ve just broken the record? Do you know how proud this caucus is of you? Do you know how proud America is of you?” Schumer said.
He began his speech at 7 p.m. ET Monday.
“I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able,” Booker said at the beginningof his speech, per CNN. “I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis.”
“In just 71 days, the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm on Americans’ safety; financial stability; the core foundations of our democracy,” Booker said. “These are not normal times in America. And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate.”
There was a mixed bag of reactions to Booker’s speech on X.
