Is Senator Cory Booker Vegan? Here's What He Said During His Famous Filibuster

Since the strategical precursor to the modern filibuster was employed more than two centuries ago, it has been recognized by the U.S. Senate as "praised as the protector of political minorities from the tyranny of the majority," which is particularly apt today.

Indeed, amid mass federal layoffs, bickering preventing bipartisan unity (to put it kindly), and more chaos during President Trump's second term, Senator Cory Booker has seized the opportunity to literally and figuratively take a stand.

Senator Booker heralded in the new month by beginning a marathon filibuster in protest of President Trump, Elon Musk, and other perceived attacks on democracy. During his speech, Senator Booker mentioned his vegan identity.

Keep reading to learn more about Senator Booker's speech, why it is happening, as well as how he has been a champion of vegan values.

In February 2021, Senator Cory Booker was appointed to the Senate Agriculture Committee, and in the process, he became the first known vegan senator to serve on this important committee, per Men's Health.

Senator Booker has often referenced his vegan values in interviews, his stance strongly opposing factory farming in its current form, and the animal-first ideals that he has espoused have led him to co-sponsor bills that resulted in enormous changes for animal protections in the U.S.

Given his long history of consistently supporting animal rights and the common-sense notion not to eat or abuse them, it is no wonder that the famous moments to which he is attached would include a reference to his vegan values.

With Senator Booker generating headlines as the calendar turned from March to April 2025, his barrier-breaking views once again were on full display.

On the evening of March 31, Senator Booker broadcast his intentions via social media to protest the Trump Administration, saying in the video: "I am not gonna stop speaking. I am going to not stop standing. I am going to go for as long as I am physically able to go."

Beginning around 7 p.m. EST on March 31, Booker began a marathon session that reached 15 hours as of 10 a.m. EST on April 1.

Senator Booker referenced his vegan values around the 13-hour mark in his filibuster, per Newsweek.

"I went out for dinner with Ted Cruz [and] it was hard to find a restaurant because I'm a vegan and Ted Cruz is from Texas," Senator Booker joked at approximately 7:54 a.m. EST on April 1. Per Newsweek, Cruz's longest filibuster came in 2013 during an anti-Obamacare speech that lasted 21 hours and 19 minutes.

Senator Booker began his speech on a powerful note, per CNN: “I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able. I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis.”

“In just 71 days, the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm on Americans’ safety; financial stability; the core foundations of our democracy,” Booker continued, per CNN. “These are not normal times in America. And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate.”