New Jersey Senator Corey Booker, who has been live-streaming an anti-Trump rant from the Senate floor for more than 24 hours now, is making history by delivering the longest US government speech to ever grace the Google-owned video platform.
Update: Booker's live stream officially ended at 8:05 p.m. on April 1st, 2025. It ran for a total of 25 hours and 5 minutes, making it the longest speech in the Senate floor's history.
Headed into his 25th hour (and counting), the seasoned US Senator has been slamming the Trump administration to fellow lawmakers, with an average 45,000 consistent viewers tuning in on YouTube since early Monday evening, 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
By the 24-hour live stream mark, that number of viewers had risen to roughly 110,000, with the count growing by the minute.
Announcing his plans on X before he took to the Capitol Hill stage, Booker claimed he was “heading to the Senate floor because Donald Trump and Elon Musk have shown a complete disregard for the rule of law, the Constitution, and the needs of the American people.
"The Trump, Musk, and America's Moral Moment live stream is airing on CSPAN, YouTube, X, and Facebook," Booker posted just before the relentless condemnation kick-off.
I’m heading to the Senate floor because Donald Trump and Elon Musk have shown a complete disregard for the rule of law, the Constitution, and the needs of the American people. You can tune in on CSPAN, YouTube, X, and Facebook.
undefined Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) March 31, 2025
"In just 71 days, the president has inflicted harm after harm on Americans' safety, financial stability, the foundations of our democracy, and any sense of common decency," the Senator opened his communiqué behind the podium. "These are not normal times in our nation. And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate."
Methodically ticking off a list of hot-button topics throughout the overnight, at 16 hours and 21 minutes into the live stream, Booker even claimed to be behind in his own pre-planned schedule to vilify the newly elected President and his DOGE sidekick for as “long as I am physically able" to stand on the Senate floor.
"Standing" is the key word here. To retain control of the floor, Booker must remain standing even when passing the podium to fellow Democrats to rest his vocal chords at various times during the session. At one point, it was said the Senator had his chair removed to reduce any urges he may have to sit down.
Signaling out the “recklessness” of Trump and his White House posse for the “real and harmful damage caused to our nation," Booker spoke about the controversial gutting of federal agencies and programs such as USAID, Medicaid, Social Security, Veteran Affairs, in addition to the Trump administration's policy changes on immigration, the economy, and foreign affairs, just to name a few.
“New Jerseyans and Americans are demanding that we rise up and speak up to hold Trump and his cronies to account,” Booker said. Since the stream began, thousands of live chat comments have been pouring in non-stop on the channel, the vast majority praising the Senator's efforts with hearts and hand clapping emojis.
History of long speeches in Washington
Elected in 2013, New Jersey’s first African American Senator is no novice when it comes to the political pulpit. Popular in his own right, the former Newark, New Jersey mayor took a swipe at the White House for a presidential run representing the Democratic party in 2020. Unsurprisingly, the two-term Senator is expected to campaign again for the position in 2028.
Although Booker’s diatribe is not the longest speech or filibuster (an extended speech used as a tactic by lawmakers to delay legislation) in the history of the Senate floor, it certainly has merit when it comes to YouTube (and free publicity).
This is an AMERICAN moment. It’s time to speak up. All of us, myself included, must rise to this moment. So much is at stake for so so many - for our nation, for each other. pic.twitter.com/yIbz7Jfhxb
undefined Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) March 31, 2025
According to an NPR report, a 15-hour speech by Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut took place for “15 hours” after the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016 during a push for gun control legislation.
Another lengthy record is held by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, “who held the floor for 21 hours and 19 minutes unsuccessfully advocating for defunding Obamacare in 2013,” NPR said.
However, clocking in at “24 hours and 18 minutes” in 1957, the longest filibuster to have ever taken place was made by then-Democratic Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina in opposition to the Civil Rights Act, the media outlet noted.
Still, Booker is definitely the first to make it to the interwebs for this long in real time. His only threat of being booted off the floor at this point is that regular Senate business customarily begins at noon, but as of 1:30 p.m. ET, Booker is still holding firm.
YouTube rules and records
If you're still curious, and although kind-of-suspect, the longest live stream by an individual in YouTube’s 20-year history, as listed in the Worldwide Book of Records, was by a social media influencer from India who recorded himself for "8 hours 58 minutes 5 seconds" on December 31st, 2023.
By comparison, and seemingly much more exciting, some teenager named Norme on TikTok claims to have the longest live stream of all known video platforms, posting that he broke the World Record by staying awake for something like 264 hours (11 days) last August.
@dailymail After 11 days, streamer Norme broke the world record with 264 hours, 24 minutes, despite interruptions from police and emergency services checking on his wellbeing. 🎥NORME #worldrecord #streamer #awake #news ♬ original sound - Daily Mail
According to Google's YouTube, although there is technically no limit to how long one can live stream on the platform, the archival of a live stream is cut off at 12 hours, which could possibly explain why extended live streams are not so popular among the social media jet set.
Additionally, when it comes to live streams on the mobile app, one must have a verified YouTube channel, at least 50 subscribers, and no live-streaming restrictions in the last 90 days.
“YouTube can only automatically archive live streams up to 12 hours long. If your stream exceeds this, it might not be captured for later viewing,” Google's website states.
Which probably means you should tune in now to witness this historic tirade before Booker collapses from exhaustion.
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