Booker says Democrats ‘have to take some responsibility’ for state of the country

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said Tuesday that Democrats “have to take some responsibility” for the current state of the country, during his first interview after setting a new record for the longest Senate floor speech in history.

In an interview on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show,” Booker said he was inspired to speak on the Senate floor for 25 hours and 5 minutes after listening to his angry constituents demanding Democrats do more to counter President Trump and his agenda.

“I do really credit constituents, who were impatient, who were demanding, who were scared, who were angry, and, very understandably, taking that anger out on Democrats, who have to take some responsibility for being where we are in American history right now,” Booker told Maddow.

He said he has been working with his team in the Senate to try to increase online engagement and encourage his fellow senators to “put more of their heart and spirit out there” on social media.

“They have almost quadrupled their numbers of engagement online,” Booker added, noting he has colleagues who have joined TikTok in recent weeks.

“But I suddenly realized that I have just got to do something myself. I have got to try to prove worthy for my constituents that I’m willing to step out and step up in some way and hopefully be able to share their stories that were so hurtful,” he said.

Booker said he was hearing from his staff that people were “rendering their most personal stories about their fears or what’s happening to their families.”

“And so my staff and I said, ‘Let’s try to bring those voices to the Senate floor. Let’s see how long you can last. They’re demanding something different. This will certainly be different,’” Booker said. “And I think that a lot of that energy from the folks that I have been seeing in Jersey and across this country really helped carry me through.”

Booker began his marathon speech at 7 p.m. EDT Monday and finally yielded the floor at 8:05 p.m. Tuesday, making history with a speech lasting 25 hours and 5 minutes. He topped the previous record of 24 hours and 18 minutes set by former Sen. Strom Thurmond (S.C.), who was trying to block civil rights legislation.

Booker used his marathon speech to decry potential GOP spending cuts in its looming tax bill and policies put in place by the Trump administration. He also read many personal stories from constituents and others.