New Jersey Senator Cory Booker delivered an impassioned speech on the Senate floor Tuesday, criticizing his fellow Democrats for what he perceives as “complicity” with President Donald Trump’s administration.
The speech, excerpts from which were posted by Booker on X, have since been shared widely across the platform. The remarks themselves and Booker’s emotionally charged delivery have drawn praise from many, but also a flurry of jokes and criticism, including from Republican Representative Wesley Hunt, who accused Booker of throwing a “temper tantrum” on the Senate floor.
Newsweek reached out to Booker’s representatives via email for comment.
Today, the Senate floor looked less like a chamber of serious debate and more like a stage for Cory Booker’s temper tantrum.
Why?
Because the American people rejected the Democrats’ radical agenda and took their country back. He’s right about one thing: his party does need a… pic.twitter.com/d0bpZkXITY
— Wesley Hunt (@WesleyHuntTX) July 30, 2025
Why It Matters
Booker’s fiery remarks were instigated by an exchange with other Democratic senators over a package of law enforcement funding bills.
Some have viewed the intraparty spat as symbolizing the rift within the party regarding how they should address and combat the policies of the Trump administration, while simultaneously serving constituents and winning back much-needed support from voters ahead of the 2026 and 2028 elections.
What To Know
Before Booker’s speech, the Senate was debating bipartisan legislation on police grants that were unanimously passed by the Judiciary Committee last week. Booker objected to the request from Democratic senators Chuck Grassley and Catherine Cortez Masto for unanimous passage of the seven bills, saying that police grants would not go to his home state or several other Democratic states where the Department of Justice had paused the allocation of certain federal funds.
His request for an amendment visibly frustrated Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Senator Cortez Masto, who accused Booker of failing to voice his objections during previous debates on the legislation, and of trying to “kill all of these bills.”
Booker, who has risen the ranks of 2028 Democratic primary hopefuls following a record-breaking 24-hour filibuster in April, then launched into a broadside over the legislation and other elements of Trump’s presidency, aimed at both present members and his broader party.
Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images
“This, to me, is a problem with Democrats in America right now, is we’re willing to be complicit to Donald Trump,” Booker said, “to let this pass through when we have all the leverage right now.”
“We are standing at a moment where our president is eviscerating the Constitution of the United States of United States of America, and we’re willing to go along with it today,” he continued. “No. No. Not on my watch.”
The speech has drawn praise from those who agree with Booker’s suggestion that the Democratic Party needs a “wake-up call,” but also ridicule from others on X.
“Me watching Corey Booker and Amy Klobuchar fighting,” @k_ovfefe2, who describes themself as a “Trump historian” on X, posted, alongside a 2016 image of Trump sipping Coca-Cola through a straw.
“Cory Booker is in an eternal audition for Hamilton,” X user @yc posted.
“Cory Booker goes tf OFF on democrats for being weak, and deserve to lose,” posted popular conservative-leaning account @saras76. “Trump is breaking them all and I’m here for it.” She added in another post: “He’s such a crybaby tantrum throwing b****.”
“Cory Booker’s whole thing is this but with a frown,” X user @carminerites posted alongside a meme of Toad from Nintendo’s Mario franchise that says “stuff do be happening. It be happening too much.”
“You’re saying Cory Booker is a do-nothing, grandstanding blow-hard who can’t even do the basic functions of his taxpayer funded job?” 10 Minute Drill host Matt Whitlock posted on X alongside a photo of Trump with his finger to his ear that said “Wow I didn’t know that. You’re telling me now for the first time.”
“I found a photo of @corybooker,” said X user @bible1_pam as she shared a graphic of the senator wearing a crown that said “Drama Queen.”
What People Are Saying
Senator Cory Booker, during his remarks on Tuesday, said: “What I am tired of is when the president of the United States of America 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.”
“I see businesses taking late night talk show hosts off the air because they dare to insult a president; I see people who want mergers suddenly think that they have to pay tribute to this president,” he continued. “And what are the very people here elected to defend the Constitution of the United States saying? “Oh, well, today let’s look the other way and pass some resources that won’t go to Connecticut, that won’t go to Illinois, that won’t go to New York, that will go to the states he likes.”
Republican Representative Wesley Hunt, on X: “Today, the Senate floor looked less like a chamber of serious debate and more like a stage for Cory Booker’s temper tantrum. Why? Because the American people rejected the Democrats’ radical agenda and took their country back. He’s right about one thing: his party does need a wake-up call, just not the kind he’s dreaming of.”
AllenAnalysis host Brian Allen, on X: “Booker says Dems are sleepwalking into fascism while pretending bipartisanship is still real. This eruption was triggered by a debate over policing, but it blew the lid off the whole damn party.”
What Happens Next
Booker allowed two of the bills under consideration to pass, which were subsequently approved, but blocked the five remaining pieces of legislation.
