Sen. Cory Booker reiterated Sunday his call for Democrats to take more responsibility for the turbulent early months of President Donald Trump’s return to office — an argument he delivered in a record-breaking speech less than a week earlier.
“We are in a state where, again, the Democratic Party should own up,” Booker said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”
“We partfully laid this pathway for this demagogue to come into office and so, the way we deal with that, the way we correct from those mistakes is to do more of the centering of American voices, American people in our conversation and in our focus,” he continued. “Not focus on politics, focus on people.”
The New Jersey Democrat’s comments echoed his marathon, 25-hour Senate floor speech last week, shattering a record set by the late Sen. Strom Thurmond for a filibuster against civil rights legislation in 1957. Booker had pledged to speak “as long as physically able” in an effort to disrupt Senate business to protest the Trump administration’s agenda.
Throughout his speech, Booker decried a host of moves made by Trump and his allies, such as Elon Musk’s federal cutting spree, Trump’s aggressive tariff policies, and Republican efforts to make cuts to Medicaid through a GOP-backed budget proposal.
But his own party wasn’t spared from the criticism. Booker called out Democrats for prioritizing the party over its constituents.
“A lot of people voted for Donald Trump because they trusted him and didn’t trust the Democrats could deliver for them,” Booker said to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, a former member of the Clinton administration. “You may have this great analysis, great thoughts and ideas, but people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Booker’s efforts to rally Democrats come amid growing optimism about the party’s performance in the 2026 midterm elections. In Wisconsin, Democratic-supported Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford beat her Trump- and Musk-backed rival last week, maintaining the court’s left-leaning majority. Democrats also performed better than expected in two deep-red Florida House districts, despite ultimately falling short in both races.
“The Democratic Party is at its weakest when it’s concerned about the party,” Booker said. “It’s at its strongest when it’s concerned about the people. When it’s bigger and broader than any narrow political analysis. This is a time for Americans to step up.”
Earlier in the interview, Booker disparaged Trump’s recent sweeping tariffs on foreign trading partners, saying the measures have already plunged the U.S. economy into turmoil.
“I think he will already go down for a president having the worst first 100 days in the last century of any president that’s ever taken that office,” Booker said.
