US Senator Cory Booker has surpassed 24 hours of continuous speaking on the Senate floor in a marathon speech denouncing the policies of President Donald Trump.
The New Jersey Democrat took the floor at 7 p.m. ET (2300GMT) on Monday, vowing to "disrupt the normal business" of the Senate and highlight what he called the "grave and urgent" threats posed by Trump's administration.
As he entered his second day of speaking, Booker invoked the country's founding fathers, civil rights leaders and lawmakers who resisted McCarthyism, urging Congress to take stronger action against Trump's policies. Despite visible signs of exhaustion, he remained standing, making sweeping gestures as he spoke.
During his speech, Booker criticized the administration's handling of Medicaid, Social Security and education policy, arguing that Trump's actions had caused "harm after harm" to ordinary Americans. He also criticized what he described as congressional inaction in holding the executive branch accountable.
"In just 71 days, the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm on Americans' safety; financial stability; the core foundations of our democracy," he said. "These are not normal times in America. And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate."
The senator, a former presidential candidate, positioned his marathon address as a call to action for Democrats to resist policies he views as harmful to American democracy.
