The New Yorker Radio Hour
Cory Booker: “America Needs Moral Leadership, and Not Political Leadership”
25 Apr 2025
As Donald Trump continues to launch unprecedented and innovative attacks on immigrants, civic institutions, and the rule of law, the Democratic response has been—in the eyes of many observers—tepid and inadequate. One answer to the sense of desperation came from Senator Cory Booker, who, on March 31st, launched a marathon speech on the Senate floor, calling on Americans to resist authoritarianism. Booker beat the record previously held by Senator Strom Thurmond’s twenty-four-hour-long filibuster of the Civil Rights Act, in 1957, and he spoke in detail about Americans who are in desperate straits because of federal job cuts and budget slashing. “We knew . . . if I could last twenty-four hours and eighteen minutes, that we could potentially command some attention from the public,” Booker tells David Remnick. “That’s the key here . . . to deal with the poverty of empathy we have in our nation right now.” Yet Booker bridles as Remnick asks about Democratic strategy to resist the Administration’s attacks. Instead, he emphasized the need for “Republicans of good conscience” to step up. “Playing this as a partisan game cheapens the larger cause of the country,” he argues. “This is the time that America needs moral leadership, and not political leadership.”
Full Episode
From the online spectacle around Leo XIV's election to our favorite on-screen cardinals. This week on Critics at Large, we're talking all things Pope.
The Catholic Church was made for this moment. I think 2,000 years ago, the Catholic Church basically anticipated TikTok, Instagram, X. You don't have those little Swiss guard outfits and think they're not being photographed. Oil painting is not enough.
I'm Vincent Cunningham. Join me and my co-hosts for an episode on what can only be described as Pope Week. New episodes of Critics at Large drop every Thursday. Find us wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome to the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick.
April 30th marks 100 days of Donald Trump's second term. And in that short time, the administration has carried out an unprecedented series of attacks against legal immigrants, against civic institutions and universities, against the rule of law itself. The president's tariff policy and all its chaos has absolutely tanked the global economy.
many Americans who are anguished about the administration are looking for someone to lead the opposition. Because the Democratic Party has, with some exceptions, been very cautious. And congressional Republicans, in the words of Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, are all afraid to stand up to Trump.
So in the face of this anguish, on March 31st, Cory Booker of New Jersey launched an epic protest on the floor of the Senate.
Maybe you're an immigrant that's never broken the law. Maybe you're a citizen. Even if you think the administration's immigration agenda doesn't apply to you, please know that the reckless behavior we're seeing erodes all of our rights. And the American mother and the American child right now, whose husband was unjustly and illegally deported and is right now in an El Salvadorian prison.
Booker spoke for more than a day. He spoke for 25 hours, finishing in the evening of April 1st. It was a Jimmy Stewart moment, an extended rallying cry for decency and the rule of law.
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