The cast of Friday’s PBS News Hour could hardly contain their excitement over Sen. Cory Booker’s 25-hour Senate speech denouncing all things Donald Trump. Host Amna Nawaz claimed it “inspired” people, a point echoed by Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart, who labeled it “inspiring.” Meanwhile, New York Times columnist David Brooks praised Booker for being “upbeat” in contrast to Trump’s “gloom and carnage.”
Nawaz began, “We saw Senator Cory Booker take to the Senate floor in a record-breaking speech that he said, his office said, inspired thousands of people to call into his office.”
She also wondered, “You had hundreds of millions of people liking and commenting online. And we also now have more than 1,000 planned protests coming up this weekend against President Trump in cities across the country. Is there a momentum shift? What's going on here with Democrats?”
Capehart responded by recalling a previous News Hour episode:
I think with Senator Booker — what was so inspiring about what he did, one, it seemed to come from out of nowhere. It seemed to — it seemed to — it was genuine, 25 hours and four minutes without any breaks. The other thing is, I think two weeks ago, or maybe even three weeks ago, we were here when you were talking about the fight, Democrats need to fight. And I was trying to articulate what that meant, really what Democrats wanted, even though they knew they would not succeed. What Senator Booker did, that's exactly what they wanted him to do.
Apparently, liberals just want style over substance, “They wanted someone in an elected position, someone of some stature, to stand up and say, explain what was going on, to give voice to what they were feeling about what was happening to their country, about who was doing it, about what we need to do to remind ourselves of who we are as a country.”
Capehart concluded by declaring, “And I think that's why Senator Booker's speech, his filibuster resonated so much. Millions of people — it was 350 million people liked it, I believe it was on — on TikTok. That's what people are going for. And I think what Senator Booker has done, I think, has given people sort of the rhetorical armor they need for marches that are going to be happening around the country tomorrow, but going forward, because what we have seen this week is just one more horrible week on top of, what, 10 horrible weeks, if you care about this country.”
There are not even 350 million American citizens, let alone adults or Democratic voters, so that means many foreigners liked the TikTok video, which does not actually tell us much about how Booker’s speech will impact politics going forward. Still, Brooks defended himself from Capehart’s earlier invocation of March 14’s show, “Yeah, well, I didn't like that ‘fight’ word, because I think — I have tried to say that it's about persuasion.”
He then wrapped up the segment by adding, “What Cory Booker did was try to persuade. It was 25 hours of rhetoric on making a case for a thing. And so I thought that was good. The second final, quick thing about Cory Booker is, if Donald Trump is going to be all about gloom and carnage and threat, Cory Booker is about upbeat. And that's a good — good way to counter the vibe of Donald Trump.”
To use a phrase PBS might recognize, to the contrary, droning on for more than one whole day is quite gloomy.
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Here is a transcript for the April 4 show:
PBS News Hour
4/4/2025
7:36 PM ET
AMNA NAWAZ: We saw Senator Cory Booker take to the Senate floor in a record-breaking speech that he said, his office said, inspired thousands of people to call into his office.
You had hundreds of millions of people liking and commenting online. And we also now have more than 1,000 planned protests coming up this weekend against President Trump in cities across the country. Is there a momentum shift? What's going on here with Democrats?
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, there is a momentum shift simply because everything we have seen come out of this administration is just moving people from apathy and complacency up and out into the streets, particularly with these demonstrations around the country tomorrow.
I think with Senator Booker — what was so inspiring about what he did, one, it seemed to come from out of nowhere. It seemed to — it seemed to — it was genuine, 25 hours and four minutes without any breaks. The other thing is, I think two weeks ago, or maybe even three weeks ago, we were here when you were talking about the fight, Democrats need to fight.
And I was trying to articulate what that meant, really what Democrats wanted, even though they knew they would not succeed. What Senator Booker did, that's exactly what they wanted him to do. That — they wanted someone in an elected position, someone of some stature, to stand up and say, explain what was going on, to give voice to what they were feeling about what was happening to their country, about who was doing it, about what we need to do to remind ourselves of who we are as a country.
And I think that's why Senator Booker's speech, his filibuster resonated so much. Millions of people — it was 350 million people liked it, I believe it was on — on TikTok. That's what people are going for. And I think what Senator Booker has done, I think, has given people sort of the rhetorical armor they need for marches that are going to be happening around the country tomorrow, but going forward, because what we have seen this week is just one more horrible week on top of, what, 10 horrible weeks, if you care about this country.
NAWAZ: David, got about 30 seconds left. I will give you the final word here.
BROOKS: Yeah, well, I didn't like that “fight” word, because I think — I have tried to say that it's about persuasion.
NAWAZ: Right.
BROOKS: And so you should try to persuade. And so what Cory Booker did was try to persuade. It was 25 hours of rhetoric on making a case for a thing. And so I thought that was good. The second final, quick thing about Cory Booker is, if Donald Trump is going to be all about gloom and carnage and threat, Cory Booker is about upbeat. And that's a good — good way to counter the vibe of Donald Trump.
