Sen. Cory Booker broke the record for the longest Senate speech in history Tuesday evening after delivering a 25-hour tirade against the Trump administration—and concluded with a long-anticipated bathroom break.
The New Jersey Democrat held the Senate floor for 25 hours and 5 minutes, beating the record set by Sen. Strom Thurmond’s 24 hour, 18 minute-long filibuster blocking civil rights legislation in 1957.
Booker vowed Monday night to keep talking as long as he was “physically able” to protest what he described as a national “crisis” caused by the Trump administration.
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“There’s a room in the Senate named after Strom Thurmond,” Booker said as he acknowledged that he was nearing breaking the late senator’s record. “To hate him is wrong—maybe my ego got too caught up.”
“I stood here to maybe break his record,” Booker went on. “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.”
Thurmond, a South Carolina representative, delivered a filibuster in 1957 to block the passage of the Civil Rights Act, landmark legislation that addressed racial discrimination.
The crowd broke into lengthy applause as Booker officially broke Thurmond’s record—and addressed the elephant in the room.
“I want to go a little bit past this and then I’m going to deal with some of the biological urgencies I’m feeling,” Booker said, drawing laughter from the audience.
As the senator’s speech dragged on, social media went abuzz with speculations about how he managed to go over a day without a bathroom break.
Jeff Giertz, Booker’s communications director, told NPR that the lawmaker was not wearing a diaper or a catheter.
Booker himself told reporters after his speech that he didn’t have to take a bathroom break because he hadn’t eaten since Friday and stopped drinking water on Sunday to intentionally dehydrate himself.
Democratic senators—including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, and Amy Klobuchar—took turns asking Booker minutes-long questions to give him a much-needed reprieve from talking.
“Do you know how proud this caucus is of you?” Schumer said after informing Booker that he had broken the record. “Do you know how proud America is of you?”
Former Vice President Kamala Harris joined the chorus of Democrats who applauded Booker for his speech.
“The true measure of a leader is not based on who you beat down but on who you lift up,” she said in a post on X. “For over 24 hours, my friend Cory Booker stood on the floor of the Senate and lifted up the voices of the American people harmed by the current administration.”
Across the aisle, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski also gave Booker props for the “historic” speech.
“Whether you agree with him or not, the past 24+ hours was what most people think a filibuster actually looks like,” she said. “Congratulations to Sen. Booker for his historic feat (while staying on his feet!)”
