Cory Booker is the first town hall since the recording speech

By Mike Catalini | Associated Press

Paramus, NJ – Democratic Senator Cory Booker took a version of his record Senate speech on the road on Saturday at a town hall meeting in a New Jersey gymnasium, calling people to discover what they can do to postpone President Donald Trump’s order.

Booker asked Berban questions of New Jersey’s Bergen Community College on the same day as more than 1,200 “hands!” Demonstrations have been planned throughout the country. The town hall event was punctuated both by cries of celebration of “Cory, Cory” as well as at least half a dozen interruptions by demonstrators.

It was the first event in person of Booker in his country of origin since his speech this week, where he held the Senate for 25 hours and 5 minutes in opposition to Trump policies. In doing so, he broke the longest speech record, which was established by the segregationist Strom Thurmond in opposition to the civil rights law of 1957.

Questionnaire after the questioner asked what they could do to show their disagreement and concern about the president’s policies. Booker told them that it only took a little more – could they have a trip to Washington to put pressure against budget cuts? One of the noisiest moments of applause came after sending a woman who said she was worried that the potential cups of Medicaid could mean for her autistic son.

“A gathering like this cannot be the end of our activism,” said Booker. “It must be a moment in America where we all start to say, what can I do more?”

Booker’s questions and answers reflect what voters and other democrats have heard in town halls. He said he didn’t want to focus on the Democratic Party, which has struggled to find a message since the loss of the 2024 elections. Instead, he said, he would focus on “the people of our country”.

“I think the Democratic Party has lost many elections because people did not think they were care about them. So let’s stop worrying about politics and focuses more on people,” said Booker.

After the event, Booker said that he was reluctant to tell people the exact tactics to use, citing civil rights activists like the late John Lewis. He said creativity has a role to play.

“I know that a thing is not to sit and do nothing and just watch on television and get stuck in a state of sedentary agitation,” he said. “Everyone must take measures to exert pressure to change.”

Booker, who presented himself without success for the president in 2020, said after the event that he focused on the race for the re-election of the Senate in 2026 and that 2028 “will take care of himself”.

Booker, 55, is in his second full term in the Senate. He chairs the strategic communications committee, his party’s messaging arm. His team focuses on the increase in the presence of Senate Democrats on social platforms thanks to more frequent and more occasional content.

Booker himself has raised one of the greatest follow-ups on social media platforms like Instagram, Tiktok and X, where his comment seems to connect with the party base. But staff members are now focusing on how to transfer this success to Senateur colleagues in Booker, who are often less fluid and face different political landscapes in their original states.

This involved transforming the communications committee into a nerve center to test and coordinate the easiest formats for legislators who seek to stimulate their digital marks.

Booker hopes to double the commitment that senators receive with their content directly online and increase the apparitions of the caucus with personalities from the digital media online.

The start of the event on Saturday included six disturbances, including several people who have criticized the treatment of Palestinians. The gymnasium police escorted them from the arena.

“I hear you and I see you,” said Booker.

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The journalist of Associated Press Matt Brown in Washington contributed.

Originally published: April 5, 2025 at 3:46 p.m.