By Abiola Olawale
United States Senator Cory Booker has etched his name into the annals of American legislative history after delivering the longest continuous speech ever recorded on the Senate floor.
Clocking in at an astonishing 25 hours and 5 minutes, Booker’s marathon address, which concluded on Tuesday evening, April 1, surpassed a nearly seven-decade-old record set by late Senator Strom Thurmond in 1957.
Booker, the first African American senator to represent New Jersey, took to the Senate floor at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, March 31, vowing to speak “for as long as I am physically able” to disrupt the chamber’s normal proceedings.
What followed was a critique of the Trump administration, which Booker accused of undermining democracy, eroding Americans’ safety and financial stability, and threatening the nation’s core institutions.
“These are not normal times in America,” Booker declared early in his speech, “and they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate.”
Throughout the 25-hour ordeal, Booker remained standing, a requirement to hold the floor, relying on over 1,160 pages of prepared material, giant looseleaf binders, and index cards filled with anecdotes and data.
He read dozens of letters from constituents, whom he described as “terrified people” with “heartbreaking” stories of hardship under Trump’s policies.
From Medicaid cuts to education rollbacks, Booker painted a vivid picture of a nation in crisis, warning of “tyranny” and a dimming “beacon of democracy” on the global stage.
