The spouse of Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) shared her concerns over his safety during his lengthy Senate speech last year.
Booker set a record for the longest floor speech on March 31, 2025, which lasted an impressive 25 hours and 5 minutes, surpassing the previous record held by former Sen. Strom Thurmond.
His wife, Alexis Booker, who married him last year, expressed her worries in a TikTok video this week, citing fears that he might “die” while speaking nonstop.
“Standing for 25 hours is not very safe. You’re physically breaking down, and if you fall, the risk of injury is real,” she explained.
“While I wanted him to beat that record, I was terrified he’d get hurt or dehydrated if he didn’t eat for, like, a day.” She was particularly anxious about his well-being during the marathon.
“He wouldn’t eat for a long time, and honestly, I was just worried he was getting dehydrated,” Alexis mentioned, noting that she and Booker’s mother were unable to be there in person. She called Booker’s mom because the tension was high.
“At that time, I was in Los Angeles, preparing to move to be with Corey. I didn’t want to disturb him, but I sent cute messages and even made cartoons with my face on them,” she shared, explaining that she had Booker’s team print them out to give to him.
Reflecting on the event, she recalled, “A year ago, Corey was my boyfriend, and I was busy packing up my life to move across the country. When he broke the record, I was in my living room, cheering for him, trying not to frighten the strangers buying things I had listed online. It was chaotic yet a tremendously joyful moment.”
Booker used the opportunity to express his anti-Trump sentiments, with some critics, including NBC News’ Jonathan Allen, arguing that it highlighted a lack of forward-thinking among Democrats regarding the economy and rising crime. Nonetheless, Booker insisted that his speech was meant to “amplify the voices of Americans impacted by President Trump.”
Following this notable event, he published a book called Stand.
“Now is not the time to give in to despair or abandon our highest ideals,” Democrats emphasized at the time, declaring, “Now is the moment to boldly assert, like our forebears did: I stand with America.”
