A Democratic Senator has broken the record for the longest speech ever delivered in the upper house of the US Congress. Cory Booker spoke for an astonishing 25 hours and four minutes in a marathon address, as he warned of a "grave and urgent" moment in American history.
The 55-year-old New Jersey Senator broke the previous record held by the Republican Strom Thurmond. Strom spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act in 1957, when he was still a Democrat. Booker said he would speak for as long as he was physically able as he began his address at around 7pm local time on Monday evening. He concluded at 8.06pm local time on Tuesday.
During his speech, he raised recurring themes which included the economic chaos and rising prices unleashed by Donald Trump's tariffs.
He also voiced concerns over the ever-greater influence in US politics of billionaires, particularly Elon Musk, who has been slashing government programmes affecting children, military veterans and other vulnerable groups without consent from Congress.
The Democrat Senator read dozens of letters from what he described as “terrified people” with “heartbreaking” stories.
He quoted from a recently fired USAID employee who recounted a story of broken dreams and warned that the "beacon of our democracy grow dim across the world."
Booker also lashed out at the Trump administration for removing people without due legal process.
He also claimed the White House was trying to control the media in the same way that Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had done in Russia and Turkey, respectively.
As he stood up to begin his marathon address, Booker said: “I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis.
"These are not normal times in America and they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate.
"The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more to stand against them.”
He acknowledged that the Democrats had to do more to resist Trump, but urged the public to rise up as well.
“This is not who we are or how we do things in America,” Booker said. "How much more can we endure before we, as a collective voice, say enough is enough?
"Enough is enough. You’re not going to get away with this.”
