He’s a legend in his own mind.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) is attempting another “I am Spartacus” moment for himself on floor of the upper chamber — holding the Senate hostage as he continues to jaw on since Monday night as part of a marathon “filibuster” session opposing President Trump’s agenda in Congress.
“I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able,” Booker began a little after 7 p.m. Monday. “I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis.”
Booker’s speech, which is still ongoing, is not technically a filibuster, since he is not opposing any specific legislation, though he will be able to talk for as long as he remains standing.
Booker’s grand-standing verbosity comes after the Democrat tried to turn the 2018 Senate nomination hearings involving now-US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh into a circus by demanding the release of emails already in the public domain — claiming, “This is the closest I’ll get to an ‘I am Spartacus’ moment.”
The quote referred to the 1960 Oscar-winning movie starring Kirk Douglas as leader of a slave revolt, with the main character uttering the quote.
For more than 17 hours Monday into Tuesday, the New Jersey Dem has been railing against congressional Republicans’ upcoming tax, energy, border and defense bill, tariffs, Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cost-cutting and Trump’s court battles with the federal judiciary.
“The president and Elon Musk need to keep their hands off of [Social Security],” Booker lashed out, referring to the DOGE chief’s recent actions trumpeted in Wisconsin on Sunday. “It’s not theirs to take, and it’s not theirs to break.”
He dubbed his stalling effort “good trouble” in the tradition of civil-rights icon and former Rep. John Lewis (R-Ga.), as he denounced “tax breaks that disproportionately go the wealthiest” and will hike the national deficit.
He also read from speeches from the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and opinion pieces by right-leaning critics of Trump’s tariff plans including the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board.
The longest Senate speech in US history was recorded by segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond during his 1957 speech opposing the Civil Rights Act.
A Democratic senator from South Carolina at the time, Thurmond spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes.
Booker also went after the Trump admin for pulling funding from woke Ivy League universities such as Columbia, which recently had $400 million of its federal grants and contracts frozen.
“Even with universities that got too woke,” Booker said, “the antidote to that isn’t to try and shut down the thought of the left, it’s to try to make a fair more competitive marketplace.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), one of the harshest critics of the Trump administration, served at points as Booker’s “wingman” during breaks from the floor speech.
Booker wore an all-black suit with a white shirt and black tie during the speech — and frequently opened a binder of quotes he brought as backup.
Hours into Tuesday, as lawmakers were returning to Capitol Hill, Booker was growing emotional reading letters from constituents about their Social Security needs and reciting the poetry of James Weldon Johnson, who led the NAACP in the early 20th century.
“I yield the floor for a question, while retaining the floor,” he sputtered while tagging in Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) briefly. “Excuse me, I want to say that correctly. I yield for a question while retaining the floor. I do not yield the floor.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) snarked on X in response, “Is anyone listening?”
Alexandra De Luca, the VP of communications at American Bridge 21st Century, added, “I worked for Cory Booker on the campaign trail and (and I say this with love) that man drinks enough caffeine on a normal day to stay up 72 hours. This could go a while.”
Until he sits down or yields the floor, Booker will be able to go on more or less continuously.
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