Cory Booker's Senate speech draws praise from Maryland Dems, scorn from Republicans

Carson Swick, Baltimore Sun on Apr 3, 2025

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New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s 25-hour speech on the Senate floor this week grabbed headlines around the world and garnered positive reactions from his fellow Democrats in Maryland and scrutiny from Republicans.

Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks both aided Booker — who spoke from 7 p.m. Monday to just after 8 p.m. Tuesday — by speaking out against President Donald Trump during the speech. Maryland’s two senators echoed Booker’s concerns about the impact of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and other Trump administration policies.

During the speech, Van Hollen railed against Trump’s tariffs on American allies, implying they were not “strategically targeted” and amount to a tax increase on citizens.

“Strategically targeted tariffs, they can be useful in certain times to protect strategic American industries. I’m for those,” Van Hollen said. “But across-the-board tariffs? And across-the-board tariffs on an ally like Canada or Mexico? All that is is a tax increase on the American people.”

Alsobrooks joined Booker on the floor during the 16th hour of his speech and later wrote that he was “our ancestors’ dream.” Both Alsobrooks and Booker are Black, and she is the first Black senator from Maryland.

Booker’s speech broke Sen. Strom Thurmond’s record for the longest remarks ever delivered in the Senate, as the segregationist Thurmond’s filibuster against the passage of the 1957 Civil Rights Act lasted just over 24 hours. Legal experts have noted Booker’s speech was technically not a filibuster because it was not related to a specific bill being debated by the Senate, but rather delayed the chamber’s confirmation of Matthew Whitaker as a NATO ambassador.

Booker in 2022 called for the filibuster to be abolished, prompting criticism from some Republicans and others who saw his marathon speech as hypocrisy.

“Cory Booker filibustered for men in women’s sports, open borders and taxing tip workers, but never for the dead bodies of American citizens raped and murdered by the illegal aliens that (President Joe) Biden and (Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro) Mayorkas funneled into our country,” Stephen Miller, the White House’s deputy chief of staff for policy, said during a Fox News appearance Tuesday night.

But Rep. Kweisi Mfume, a Democrat who represents Baltimore City and also stood with Booker for part of his speech, wrote that his efforts had “lit a fire” for people upset with the Trump administration — a conclusion somewhat supported by the results of Tuesday’s races in Wisconsin and Florida, which saw higher-than-expected Democratic turnout in special elections.

“Thank you, Senator Cory Booker, for your demonstration of strength, courage, intellect, and fortitude,” Mfume posted on X.

At the city level, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott jokingly mentioned Booker’s speech during Wednesday’s Board of Estimates meeting, drawing laughs.

“I just have one question: If that was your definition of brief or Cory Booker’s,” Scott quipped after Director Christopher Lundy finished his thorough 20-minute presentation of an annual progress report by the Mayor’s Office of Small & Minority Business Advocacy Development.

Lundy’s presentation concluded Baltimore City had 1,244 certified minority- or women-owned businesses in the 2024 fiscal year — about 100 more than the previous year.

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