Maeve Bidonde, Staff Writer
Last month, U.S. Senator Cory Booker stood up in front of the Senate and gave a 25-hour long speech against President Donald J. Trump’s presidency and his behavior while in office. The last politician to have broken this record was white supremacist U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond who filibustered against Civil Rights. While Booker’s speech was not a filibuster; he did succeed in halting legislative business in the Senate that is controlled by Republicans.
Part of Booker’s speech included reading out letters from his constituents who’ve been negatively impacted by the president’s extreme and unnecessary actions in office. He went on to run the clock by talking about sports, reciting some poetry, and even taking questions from colleagues. Booker also live streamed his speech on Instagram where he was able to amass 2.2 billion viewers and 1.2 million on X.
According to BBC News, Booker, who is African-American, spent some time talking about being the descendant of slaves and slave-owners. “I’m here because as powerful as he was, the people are more powerful,” said Booker, referring to Thurmond.
“In just 71 days, the president has inflicted harm after harm on Americans’ safety, financial stability, the foundations of our democracy and any sense of common decency. These are not normal times in our nation,” said Booker according to an NPR article. “And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate.” Booker’s speech has come to stand for American citizens’ unfair treatment and the worth they should have to the president.
According to Forbes, Booker’s critiques call out the Trump administration’s attempts to destroy medicaid and medicare, change social security, dismantle the Department of Education, and the incompetent blunder of accidentally deporting a Maryland resident. Booker’s speech received praise from senators on both sides of the aisle.
NPR, along with other news outlets, reached out for a comment from the White House. In response, spokesperson Harrison Fields released a statement saying, “Cory Booker is looking for another ‘I am Spartacus’ moment, but that didn’t work for his failed presidential campaign, and it didn’t work to block President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. When will he realize he’s not Spartacus — he’s a spoof?”
Booker detailed his preparation process for his speech as limiting his food, water intake, and wearing comfortable shoes. Now, Americans citizens and politicians wait to see what the lasting impact of Booker’s speech will be on Republicans.
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