By April Ryan
After answering questions, reading, and more for 25 hours and 4 minutes, New Jersey Democratic Senator Corey Booker shattered a floor speech record held by segregationist Republican South Carolina Senator Strom Thurman in 1957. Thurman spoke on the Senate floor for 24 hours and 18 minutes against civil rights legislation. Booker’s Senate floor takeover directly focused on Trump and MAGA agenda items that are hurting Americans. Booker decided to make this drastic move after hearing the challenges from his constituents in his community. He acknowledged, “We could do some small measure of something.”
Democrats have been struggling to find a way to drive the narrative since January 20, when Donald Trump took the oath of office as President of the United States. Booker offered, “And so I’m hoping this will serve as one of many ignition points for people to think about what we can do to create a movement to stop Donald Trump. “Booker’s protest took a physical toll. In interviews after his historic floor speech, he said he was sometimes ” cramping ” up. The cold water his team gave him was like “ambrosia.” Booker “fasted” days before the Monday night Senate floor takeover that he and his team planned days before the historic Monday night event. During an interview with Rachel Maddox on MSNBC, Booker said his “heart rate” rose four hours into the landmark event. Booker was wearing a ring that monitored his heart rate.
Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio, says she was “honored” to witness a moment that rallied Democrats and others “telling us we will get through this administration.” Beatty, also a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, watched Booker challenge the “administration to protect our Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and so much more.” Booker discussed the economy, veterans, immigration, education, federal firings, and other Trump-impacted areas. The “moral” imperative was also a focal point of the Booker moment by getting into “good trouble.” Late civil rights icon and Georgia Congressman John Lewis was a focus for Booker’s history-making moment as his touch point for this civil protest on the Senate floor.
