Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey broke the record Tuesday for the longest speech on the Senate floor, yielding after 25 hours and 5 minutes.
“Tonight, I rise with the intention of getting in some good trouble,” he said, referencing the late civil rights pioneer Rep. John Lewis.
Booker’s speech surpassed that of Strom Thurmond, whose 1957 speech advocating against civil rights lasted 24 hours—a goal of which Booker specifically had in mind. And all of his planning didn’t go in vain.
According to The New York Times, more than 14,000 people called Booker’s office from the time he began his speech Monday until he yielded the floor.
He reached young voters on TikTok, amassing more than 350 million “likes” on videos of his speech posted to his profile. On YouTube, his videos have more than 140,000 views. And across social media, the left is praising Booker for lighting a fire under the Democratic Party.
Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California jumped in on the praise for her colleague, thanking him for “standing up for our values and all Americans” in a post on X.
“The list of concerns about the Trump Administration is endless, but your stamina in opposition is boundless,” she wrote.
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries thanked Booker for “holding the Senate floor and powerfully laying out the dangers of the Trump agenda for the American people.”
Similarly, President John F. Kennedy’s grandson Jack Schlossberg echoed Democrats’ excitement following Booker’s marathon speech.
“ANY TOUGHER AND HE’D RUST. Senator Booker showing the way,” he wrote on X.
Booker’s speech is certainly a welcome sight for Democratic voters, who have been waiting for party leaders to fight back against President Donald Trump.
Republican political consultant Frank Luntz told The Hill that Booker’s speech may have put himself on the map for a presidential run in 2028.
“He struck the kind of tone that grassroots Democrats are looking for. He gave them a reason to fight. He gave them a reason to stand up and say, this is my country too,” he said.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris also praised Booker’s “ leadership”—which could carry significant weight considering her own presidential run in 2024.
“The true measure of a leader is not based on who you beat down but on who you lift up. For over 24 hours, my friend [Booker] stood on the floor of the Senate and lifted up the voices of the American people harmed by the current administration,” she wrote on X. “We must continue to fight for the best of who we are as Americans.”
Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Strom Thurmond’s name and misidentified Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.