Overview

Cory Booker's 25-Hour Senate Speech refers to the longest recorded U.S. Senate floor speech, given by Democratic New Jersey Senator Cory Booker on April 1st, 2025. His speech largely opposed the cuts to government agencies and the crackdown on immigration by President Donald Trump's second administration. Senator Booker fasted and refused water during the speech's duration and didn't use the bathroom once. He also livestreamed it on TikTok LIVE. Senator Booker's supporters championed his record-breaking speech for amplifying the Democrat minority's voice of opposition to the American public, specifically on social media. Critics on both the left and right called Sen. Booker's speech performative and meaningless, noting that he didn't filibuster any legislation. Memes using Booker's lengthy presentation also appeared online in early April 2025, typically about giving long-winded speeches on in-depth topics like lore.

Background

At approximately 7 p.m. EST on April 1st, 2025, Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey took to the Senate floor to deliver a speech against many of the actions made by President Donald Trump at the start of his second term, including cuts to government agencies by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.), crackdowns on immigration and the detainment and deportation of students and green card holders, like Mahmoud Khalil, for protesting Israel's military actions in Palestine and the U.S. government's involvement in the conflict.^[1]

Sen. Booker livestreamed the speech on TikTok and YouTube. His TikTok LIVE received over 350 million likes and over 110,000 viewers on YouTube. Sen. Booker's team also received calls and donations throughout the speech.^[1]

Notably, Sen. Booker's speech did not delay any opposing legislation, also known as filibustering. The New York Times noted that it only delayed a planned vote on a Democratic-led bill to undo President Trump's tariffs on Canada. ^[1]

The Senator's speech ended on April 2nd and lasted 25 hours and five minutes. The length broke the Senate record previously held by Republican Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who filibustered the Civil Rights Act for over 24 hours in 1957.^[1] Sen. Booker's speech ended a few hours after President Trump announced his reciprocal tariffs.

Online Reactions

Senator Cory Booker's speech sparked viral reactions during its duration, many of which championed him. For instance, on April 1st, 2025, X^[2] user @krassenstein praised the Senator for receiving over 175 million likes on his TikTok LIVE, receiving over 1.8 million views and 58,000 likes in two days (shown below).

BREAKING: As Cory Booker goes on to his 23rd hour straight, his livestream on TikTok has been “liked” over 175 million times. Yes 175 MILLION! pic.twitter.com/25NntEOX4X

— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) April 1, 2025

Former Vice President and 2024 Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris also tweeted^[3] about Sen. Booker's record-breaking speech on April 2nd. She championed his efforts, writing, "We must continue to fight for the best of who we are as Americans. Thank you, Cory, for your leadership." Her tweet gained over 138,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Others on social media criticized Sen. Booker, mostly noting that his speech wasn't filibustering anything. For instance, on April 1st, 2025, X^[4] user @roun_sa_ville tweeted a video of a guy performing a rap song for a dead president, captioning it, "Cory Booker doing non-filibuster 25 hour protest speech and going back to being an establishment democrat," receiving over 31,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Cory Booker doing non-filibuster 25 hour protest speech and going back to being an establishment democrat pic.twitter.com/qtT165XuUv

— gaming disorder pawg (@roun_sa_ville) April 2, 2025

Similarly, on April 1st, X^[5] user @birrion tweeted, "So Cory Booker isn't trying to block any legislation but is just talking…this is how the dems resist," gaining over 8,800 likes in two days (shown below).

On April 1st, 2025, X^[6] user @Pinko69420 tweeted a meme that was critical of Sen. Booker, using a Sailor Moon format that read, "But you didn't do anything," receiving over 3,700 likes in two days (shown below).

Memes like the abovementioned received pushback from others on social media. For instance, on April 2nd, X^[7] user @LittleMammith quote tweeted @Pinko69420, writing, "Cory Booker achieved more in those 24 hours than your entire movement has in the last ten years," referring to the Black Lives Matter movement which was named in @Pinko69420's bio. The quote received over 3,700 likes in a day (shown below).

On April 1st, 2025, X^[8] user @KevinLiao_ tweeted a photo of a bathroom with the Get Me To God's Country caption, writing, "Cory Booker after speaking for 25 hours straight." The tweet gained over 36,000 likes in two days (shown below).

On April 2nd, Redditor Quasimdo posted a meme using the speech to reference explaining Warhammer 40,000 to someone on the /r/Grimdank^[9] subreddit, receiving over 6,000 upvotes and 120 comments in a day (seen below).

Various Reactions

Search Interest

External References