Senator Cory Booker, his voice still booming after more than a day spent on the Senate floor railing against the Trump administration, on Tuesday night surpassed Strom Thurmond for the longest Senate speech on record, in an act of astonishing stamina that he framed as a call to action.
Mr. Booker, a New Jersey Democrat and one-time presidential candidate, began his speech at 7 p.m. on Monday, vowing to speak as long as he was “physically able.” In a show of physical and oratorical endurance, he lasted past sunset on Tuesday, assailing President Trump’s cuts to government agencies and crackdown on immigration.
He ended his speech at 8:05 p.m., 46 minutes after eclipsing Mr. Thurmond’s 24-hour 18-minute filibuster of a civil rights bill in 1957. He finished by quoting John Lewis, the civil rights hero and congressman. Mr. Booker said of Lewis: “He said for us to go out and cause some good trouble, necessary trouble, to redeem the soul of our nation. I want you to redeem the dream. Let’s be bold in America.”
Earlier, cheers broke out in the chamber when Mr. Booker passed Mr. Thurmond. For a moment, Mr. Booker addressed the man he had eclipsed.
“To hate him is wrong, and maybe my ego got too caught up that if I stood here, maybe, maybe, just maybe, I could break this record of the man who tried to stop the rights upon which I stand,” Mr. Booker said. “I’m not here though because of his speech. I’m here despite his speech. I’m here because as powerful as he was, the people were more powerful.”
Earlier, at 4:20 p.m., Mr. Booker passed Senator Ted Cruz’s memorable 21-hour-and-19-minute harangue of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act in 2013. As the hours dragged on Tuesday and Mr. Booker kept speaking, tens of thousands followed along on livestreams, curious to see how long he might go.
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