Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) broke the record Tuesday for the longest Senate floor speech in history, speaking for 25 hours and 5 minutes (!) to protest the Trump administration's policies.
Democrats are *thrilled*: Democrats are thrilled there was "finally some fire" in pushing back against the Trump administration, reports The New York Times's Tracey Tully. Booker's speech got more than 350 million likes on his TikTok live, and his office has received more than 28,000 voicemails of encouragement, according to NBC News. He's been fundraising online, including for other Democrats.
The last record: In 1957, Sen. Strom Thurmond (S.C.) spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes. What makes this particularly historic is that Thurmond was protesting the Civil Rights Act of 1957, and his record was just broken by the first Black senator from New Jersey.
Booker didn't sit, eat or go to the bathroom for more than 25 hours. If he sat or left his desk, he would lose his floor time — so a few hours in, he had a Senate page remove the chair to take away the temptation to sit down.
How did Booker physically do that??: He told reporters he stopped eating on Friday and stopped drinking water the night before. He said the dehydration gave him cramps. "That was the biggest thing I was fighting. Different muscle groups were trying to cramp up." 📹 Watch Booker explain his preparation
Booker told lawyer Aaron Parnas after that he started noticing signs of dehydration toward the end, so Senate pages brought him cold water. "The coldness of it and the need for it, it was like they were giving me the best ambrosia to drink." 📹 Watch Booker shortly after his speech
^ I can't believe he was able to sit for an interview shortly after. I would be lying down in a dark room surrounded by a buffet of food.
One of my favorite moments: Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) jumped in on Tuesday evening and asked, "Would the senator yield for a question?" Booker responded: "Chuck Schumer, it's the only time in my life I can tell you no."
Schumer then said, "I just want to tell you, do you know you have just broken the record? Do you know how proud America is of you?" 📹 Watch the clip
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