After breaking the Senate record for longest floor speech, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., gave an innocuous answer about whether he sees himself as the Democratic Party’s next leader.
With Democratic veterans like former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., no longer in leadership, no one person can fully claim the title of Democratic Party leader.
At age 55, Booker has been in the Senate for more than 10 years. After his record-breaking speech on the Senate floor this week, during which he bashed the Trump administration, Elon Musk and Republicans, some wonder whether Booker could be a contender for party leader.
“Some are saying the Democratic Party needs a national leader, are you it?” Fox News Digital asked.
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“I think that, as the great Ella Baker said, we are the leaders we’ve been looking for,” Booker answered.
“I think the Democratic Party needs everybody to realize it’s time for all of us to lead,” he added.
During his speech, Booker claimed that President Donald Trump, in 71 days, “has inflicted so much harm on Americans’ safety, financial stability, the core foundations of our democracy, and even our aspirations as a people for, from our highest offices, a sense of common decency.”
Booker said he felt inspired to make his marathon speech, which disrupted votes on the Senate floor for over 25 hours, because his constituents “were demanding more.”
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“We’re in a moral moment in our country about what we are going to stand for,” he said. “So, I wanted to stand with our veterans, I wanted to stand with expecting moms in their healthcare, I want to stand for people who rely on Social Security and a lot of the other things that are happening I think are in the balance right now.”
The senator said that his days as a football player at Stanford prepared him to be able to stand and speak for so long.
“I learned a lot as an athlete — as most athletes will tell you, what you learn is that you can go further than you think you can,” said Booker. “You’ve got more in the tank when you think it’s all gone. And those lessons gave me a lot to draw on. And then even when everything is out of the tank and you physically have hit your wall, that your spirit can take over and you can do a little bit more.”
Asked whether his speech, not technically a filibuster, had the impact he was hoping for, Booker responded: “I think this is not a single moment, or even 25 hours. I think it’s a longer journey.”
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“It was a good day,” he continued. “But as I learned playing college football, just because you had a good play, you get back to the huddle, and you get ready for the next one, and that’s what we need to do.”
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