Cory Booker condemns Trump's policies in longest Senate speech on record

Sen Cory Booker, his voice still booming after more than a day spent on the Senate floor railing against the Trump administration, surpassed Strom Thurmond for the longest Senate speech on record Tuesday night, in an act of astonishing stamina that he framed as a call to action.

Booker, D-N J, a one-time presidential candidate, began his speech at 7 pm Monday, vowing to speak as long as he was "physically able." In a show of physical and oratorical endurance, he lasted past sunset Tuesday, assailing President Donald Trump's cuts to government agencies and crackdown on immigration.

He ended his speech at 8:05 pm, 46 minutes after eclipsing Thurmond's 24-hour, 18-minute filibuster of a civil rights bill in 1957.

Without bathroom breaks but with occasional pauses for questions from his fellow Democrats, Booker read from a binder and waved a small copy of the US Constitution.

He said the United States had reached a "moral moment" that required a stand against the Trump administration, which he said had brought the United States to a moment of "crisis" barely two months after the president returned to office.

"My voice is inadequate," Booker said more than 19 hours into the speech. "My efforts today are inadequate to stop what they're trying to do. But we the people are powerful."

Unlike Thurmond's speech, Booker's was not a filibuster because it did not come during a debate over a specific bill or nominee. But it did delay a planned vote on a Democratic-led bill to undo Trump's tariffs on Canada.

Booker divided his remarks into sections focused on aspects of the administration's agenda, focusing on health care, education, immigration and national security. He assailed what he said were Trump's plans to cut funding for Medicaid and other programs.

Booker repeatedly drew on American history, comparing the moment facing the United States under Trump to the Civil Rights Movement and the fight for women's suffrage. He called on a broad coalition of Americans to stand up to the Trump administration.

The White House dismissed Booker's speech. A spokesperson for the president, Harrison Fields, said Booker was seeking an "I am Spartacus" moment, referring to a comment by the senator during Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh.

But in the US Capitol, Booker was cheered on by his colleagues and staff. Sen. Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, told Booker that he was delivering a "tour de force."