US Senator Cory Booker came down hard on Trump administration‘s policies on Social Security, education, health care and more in a record-setting 25-hour Senate speech on Monday and Tuesday. Commanding the upper chamber’s floor attention for a stretch of time longer than a day, the senator from New Jersey – who turns 56 this month – heavily criticised President Donald Trump and the Republican party’s spending cuts.

The 25 hour and 5 minute-long Senate speech, becoming the longest in history, tested Cory Booker’s endurance considering the physical and mental toll it exacted while he set an untouchable (or so one assumes) benchmark. As the Democrat continued without taking a break, he broke the previous high-reaching standard set by former Sen. Strom Thurmond, who spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes.

US Senator Cory Booker’s record 25-hour Senate speech

“I just want to tell you what John Lewis said. It’s a quote so many people know. He said, “get in good trouble, necessary trouble.” So tonight, I rise with the intention of getting in some good trouble. I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able. 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 and even our aspirations as a people for — from our highest offices, a sense of common decency. This is a moral moment. It’s not left to right. It’s right or wrong. Let’s get in good trouble. My friend, madam president, I yield the floor,” Cory Booker said during his marathon speech on senate floor.

While delivering the longest Senate speech in the chamber’s history for 25 hours straight, the New Jersey Democrat didn’t even stop to eat. Bathroom breaks were also out of the picture and so was taking a second to sit down and rest his feet. “My body is definitely going through it right now,” he later divulged in an interview on Wednesday evening. “But my spirit is so high.” Booker’s speech torching the Trump administration commenced on Monday evening and went on until Tuesday night.

Cory Booker dehydrated himself and fasted for days

To finally achieve what he did on the chamber’s floor, the US senator disclosed he didn’t even indulge the thought of having a sip of water since Sunday night, which ultimately allowed his speech to go on non-stop without using the bathroom. “Again, I don’t want my doctor to be mad at me, but I really spent time dehydrating myself beforehand, so I did not have to go to the bathroom,” he told reporters on Tuesday night.

Booker also fasted for days ahead of Monday’s history-making milestone. “My challenge was, was that my strategy was to stop eating, I think I stopped eating on Friday, and then to stop drinking the night before I started on Monday, and that had its benefits and it had its really downsides,” he further revealed. “And so instead of fighting or figuring out how to go the bathroom, I ended up, I think really, unfortunately, dehydrating myself.”

Shedding more light on the issue, he shared, “I fasted for days into it, I stopped drinking water a long time ago. I think that had good and bad benefits; I definitely started cramping up from lack of water…  if some of you saw me really drink nothing at the end, that was just trying … to stop my muscles from cramping.”

US Senator’s sleep deprivation

Speaking on how depriving himself of sleep had its own challenges which hit him harder now that he’s in his 50s, the US Senator noted, “It’s just a lot of physical challenges, definitely making it that long for a guy, as I said, Chris Murphy and I joked, we’re not [in] the same spot in our 40s like we were nine years ago.”

Sen Chris Murphy also gave away the image of a Senate aide taking away the soon to turn 56 senator’s chair to keep him from sitting down. Booker’s Oura ring – a smart device used to track your sleep, stress levels, vital, and physical activity – also indicated at one point that his heart rate had shot up to over 100 beats per minute, repeatedly asking if he was working out, according to the New York Times.

US Senator’s athletic background comes through

In addition to crediting his athletic background and the aforementioned efforts he inculcated in his routine on the days leading up to the Senate speech delivery, Booker admitted to spirituality playing a significant role. “So I’m just really grateful. And I will tell you something, a lot of folks prayed with me. A lot of folks prayed for me, and I’m a person of faith,” the US Senator shared with the reporters.

Colleagues and spirituality by US Senator’s side

The US Senator from New Jersey who ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2020 alluded to a Bible verse that filled him with inspiration for the D-day. “It’s Isaiah, 40:31. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings … as if on eagles. They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and they … shall not faint.” Confirming that he leaned on faith to get through it, he additionally expressed gratitude for his colleagues who “really covered (him) in prayer.

The US Senator’s fellow Democrats helped in making room for speaking breaks by asking questions and offering their own speeches. At noon EDT Tuesday, the former presidential campaign earned a brief break. With the Senate having an opening prayer, Cory Booker got a chance to momentarily pause his speech.

After US Senator’s 25 hour speech

After somehow pulling through the unimaginable physical and mental feat, when Cory Booker finally hit the bed, he still slept for only around six and half hours. The immediate scene after the US Senator’s speech caught him talking to reporters, eating a banana in a Senate cloakroom and chugging plenty of water.

Cory Booker’s seemingly endless speech may have have tested his stamina like never before, but he’s no stranger to pushing forward and testing his limits as a former athlete. Crediting his past life as a high school football player who also played tight end at Stanford University and made the all-academic team for the Pac-10 conference, he said, “I know when you get [dehydrated], you get a lot of cramps. That was the biggest thing I was fighting, was that different muscle groups are starting to really cramp up. And, and every once a while I had, like, a spasm.”

On Tuesday night, the US senator took to his X profile, saying, “I may be tired and a little hoarse, but as I said again and again on the Senate floor, this is a moment where we cannot afford to be silent, when we must speak up. What’s most clear to me tonight is that this is just the beginning, that Americans across this country, no matter their title or party, are ready to be heard.”

The Democratic US Senator added, “I believe that history will show we rose to meet this moment. It will show we did not let the chaos and division go unanswered. It will show that when our president chose to spread lies and sow fear, we chose to come together, to work together, and to rise together.”