Sen. Cory Booker blew up on the Senate floor Tuesday, blasting President Donald Trump for “eviscerating the Constitution” and accusing fellow Democrats of being “complicit.”
“What I am tired of is when the president of the United States violates the Constitution, trashes our norms and traditions, and what does the Democratic Party do? Comply? Allow him? Beg for scraps? No. I demand justice,” the New Jersey senator said.
He declared that his party “needs a wake-up call,” before calling out law firms, universities, and businesses for seemingly bowing to Trump’s demands.
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“Why are you bending the knee?” Booker shouted.
The 56-year-old senator, who’s positioned himself as a potential candidate for president in 2028, said, “It’s time for Democrats to have a backbone. It’s time for us to fight. It’s time for us to draw lines.”
“When are we going to stand together? If we don’t stand as Democrats, we deserve to lose.” Booker said. “But if we stand united, if we stand strong, if we stand with other people, if we tell, with a chorus of conviction that, ‘America, what this president is doing is wrong,’ if we stand up and speak that way, dear God we will win.”
The senator launched into his furious speech after he objected to a motion from Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto to quickly pass a bipartisan policing package, insisting on an amendment to prevent the Trump administration from “weaponizing” public safety grants by withholding them from blue states.
In response, Cortez Masto and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, also a Democrat, emphasized that the Judiciary Committee approved the bills without objection. Booker sits on the committee.
“Is this the right venue to fight for what he is seeking?” Cortez Masto said, while Klobuchar, 65, questioned why Booker had waited until now to make “a big speech on the floor.”
Booker later shot back, “Don’t question my integrity, don’t question my motives,” and said he missed the votes on the package due to the committee’s rushed scheduling.
The colleagues’ back-and-forth exposed Democratic disagreements about the strategy and timing to oppose Trump. Booker, who delivered a record-breaking 25-hour floor speech in April, remains a staunch advocate for confronting Trump and the GOP head-on.
But Cortez Masto, 61, told NBC News after the debate that she was “disappointed” by Booker’s take that Democrats are “not doing enough.”
“I come from a swing state and have to beat back opponents to win my state and take on Donald Trump,” she said. “So it really is to me about how we work together to keep our communities safe and pass bipartisan, unanimous legislation that really came out of this committee, and that’s where our focus should be.”
Booker ultimately withdrew his objection and the legislation passed.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
