Sen. Cory Booker (Extended) | DOW And Out

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert Episode: Sen. Cory Booker (Extended) | DOW And Out
Release Date: April 8, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert, host Stephen Colbert delves into the tumultuous economic landscape shaped by President Donald Trump's tariff policies. The show features an extended interview with Senator Cory Booker, who discusses his historic 25-hour Senate speech addressing the nation's economic and political challenges. The episode weaves together sharp political commentary, personal anecdotes, and a call to civic action.

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Stephen Colbert’s Monologue

Time Frame: [01:04] – [12:24]

Stephen Colbert opens the episode with his characteristic humor and critical analysis of President Trump's administration, focusing on the economic repercussions of Trump's tariff strategies. He highlights the widespread public protests against Trump's policies, noting the significant turnout across all 50 states, including major cities like Chicago, Washington D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, Austin, and Philadelphia.

Key Points:

• Economic Turmoil: Colbert outlines the stock market's volatility, mentioning the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s decline and the S&P 500's significant drop, marking the worst market week since March 2020.
• Tariff Policies: He criticizes Trump's imposition of additional tariffs on China, responding to China's retaliatory tariffs. Colbert mocks the President's economic strategies, portraying them as reckless and detrimental to American workers' retirement funds and everyday expenses.
• Wall Street Reaction: The segment includes humorous references to Wall Street's disapproval, citing mock memoranda and pop culture analogies to illustrate the market's instability under Trump's policies.

Notable Quotes:

• "Trump is willing to tank the global economy and risk the wrath of American voters." – [08:59] Stephen Colbert
• "In Trump's economy, the only safe job is the guy who takes photos of panicked stockbrokers." – [03:30] Stephen Colbert

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Interview with Senator Cory Booker

Time Frame: [13:26] – [36:27]

The core of the episode is an in-depth conversation with Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. Booker discusses his record-breaking 25-hour and 5-minute Senate speech, which aimed to address the current state of the nation amidst economic instability and political division.

Key Sections:

Breaking the Senate Speech Record

• Historic Achievement: Booker broke Senator Strom Thurmond's 68-year-old record for the longest individual speech on the Senate floor.
• Purpose of the Speech: He emphasized the need to highlight the voices of everyday Americans affected by Trump's policies, particularly focusing on healthcare, retirement security, and social services.

Notable Quotes:

• "Change has never come from Washington. It often comes despite Washington." – [16:13] Cory Booker
• "The power of the people is greater than the people in power." – [17:32] Cory Booker

The Impact of Tariffs and Economic Policies

• Healthcare and Social Services: Booker criticizes Trump's plan to cut $880 billion from Medicaid, arguing it threatens the healthcare of 80 million Americans.
• Retirement Security: He discusses the detrimental effects on retirement savings, with 401(k) accounts plummeting, forcing many to extend their working years.
• USAID Cuts: Booker highlights the reduction in funding for USAID, undermining America's ability to respond to global crises and maintain international leadership.

Notable Quotes:

• "If America hasn't broken your heart, you don't love her enough." – [20:04] Cory Booker
• "This is a time to say, okay, I may disagree with you, I may disagree with what you did, but right now we're gonna unify in this fight because we've got bigger challenges before us." – [32:40] Cory Booker

The Role of the People in Democracy

• Civic Engagement: Booker emphasizes the importance of civic participation and grassroots movements in driving change, drawing parallels to historical movements like the Civil Rights and labor movements.
• Moral Responsibility: He calls for Americans to embody compassion and empathy, advocating for a "civic gospel" that prioritizes mutual support and communal well-being over partisan politics.

Notable Quotes:

• "We have to tell that truth. But it still falls to the question is, what are you going to do?" – [24:38] Cory Booker
• "Before you tell me about your religion first, show it to me and how you treat other people." – [29:39] Cory Booker

International Implications

• Global Leadership: Booker warns that the U.S.'s retreat from international leadership, exemplified by the withdrawal from USAID, invites other nations like China to fill the void, potentially undermining global democratic values.
• Diplomatic Relations: He shares anecdotes of international leaders expressing disappointment over America's current policies, underscoring the loss of trust and respect on the global stage.

Notable Quotes:

• "If you have the courage, even if your legs shake, if you have the courage to speak up, even if your voice breaks, you will be an inspiration to another, and then another, and then another." – [33:51] Cory Booker
• "The soul of our country right now, I think, needs redemption." – [33:51] Cory Booker

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with Booker reaffirming the necessity for unity and proactive engagement in addressing the nation's challenges. He urges listeners to take personal responsibility in fostering change, emphasizing that collective action and moral integrity are crucial in overcoming the current political and economic crises.

Final Notable Quote:

• "We need to now rebuild it and reimagine it." – [35:00] Cory Booker

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Key Takeaways

• Economic Critique: The episode offers a scathing critique of President Trump's tariff policies, highlighting their adverse effects on the economy and everyday Americans.
• Civic Responsibility: Senator Booker underscores the importance of active civic engagement and collective action in driving meaningful change.
• Historical Context: Booker contextualizes current events within the broader scope of American history, drawing lessons from past movements to inspire future action.
• Global Leadership: The discussion extends to the international ramifications of America's internal policies, stressing the importance of maintaining global leadership and alliances.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

1. "Change has never come from Washington. It often comes despite Washington."
   — Cory Booker [16:13]

2. "If America hasn't broken your heart, you don't love her enough."
   — Cory Booker [20:04]

3. "The power of the people is greater than the people in power."
   — Cory Booker [17:32]

4. "Before you tell me about your religion first, show it to me and how you treat other people."
   — Cory Booker [29:39]

5. "If you have the courage, even if your legs shake, if you have the courage to speak up, even if your voice breaks, you will be an inspiration to another, and then another, and then another."
   — Cory Booker [33:51]

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This episode serves as a profound exploration of the intersection between political leadership, economic policy, and civic duty, urging listeners to reflect on their role in shaping the nation's future.

Transcript

[Jill]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Welcome down here, up there, out there, all around the world. Welcome to the Late Show. I'm your host, Stephen Colbert. And welcome. I want to welcome you all to Donald Trump's golden age. Turns out by golden he meant golden shower because really feels like he's peeing on a leg and telling us it's liberated. Be a little lonely. It's a bit of a lonely time for those Americans who saw all this malicious, incompetent, corrupt chaos coming and voted. Not that again, please. Which is why this weekend it was inspiring to see hundreds of thousands of Americans turning out. Look at that. Hands off. Protests in more than 1200 locations in all 50 states. In Sweet Home Chicago. In Washington, D.C. in New York City, in Los Angeles, California. In Austin, Texas. And in the birthplace of democracy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although a lot of those people might be Eagles fans still drunk from the super bowl parade, we don't know yet. The polls were greased. They did grease the polls. Spirits were high and the signs were great. Let them eat Teslas. Detroit hates Kid Rock. And my personal favorite, I bite Nazis. Good boy. Bite those Nazis right in their testicles. Right there. One thing folks are mad about is Trump's tariffs, which today continued to shove your 401k down a flight of stairs. It turns out in Trump's economy, the only safe job is guy who takes photos of panicked stockbrokers. And in the last few days, we got some classics. We got Johnny Heddenhands, an Old fashioned God has forsaken us, and this guy who will be the new face of the $100 bill today. Ah, they're going to be fine. Today the Dow stumbled another 350 points down on top of losing nearly 4,000 points in the last two days of last week when the S and P also fell over 10%, closing out the market's worst week since March of 2020, when the pandemic ripped through the global economy. Now, there is one silver lining this time, since there's no pandemic, we can safely scream straight into each other's faces. For one. Was it 10am Something like that. For one brief shining moment this morning, things looked up around 10am right? The market shot back into positive territory thanks to a tweet reporting that the White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Trump was considering a 90 day pause in tariffs. But the tweet was not true. And an hour later the White House issued a statement denying it. And the markets lost their gains and return to their continued drop. The up and down continued all day long. Trump won't be happy until the Dow Jones looks like his signature. All of this, all this turmoil has really upset the Wall street bros. Even the ones that back Trump. They're describing his tariffs as worse than expected. And reportedly for many CEOs, this came as a surprise. A surprise? He's only been talking about tariffs since the 1980s. In the campaign, he said tariff is the most beautiful word in the English language. This is like electing Snoop Dogg and then saying, I didn't know he was gonna smoke weed every day. And what's this? Wait a second. And he's I don't. Hold on. And sipping on gin and juice. In this economy, the big Banky boys are freaking out. JP Morgan sent a memo to investors last week titled There Will Be Blood. I forget, was that movie a rom com? I can't remember. Do not worry, JP Morgan always talks in 2007 film references the memo. When it comes to retirement savings, this is no country for old men. All our money is gone, baby, gone. And to be blunt, this is Superbad. In conclusion, Shrek 3. Somebody, somebody. Wall street clearly wants the President to change his mind, but he doesn't have one. On Friday, Trump retweeted a post. He retweeted a post with the caption, Trump is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. And that post linked to a Video that claimed Trump is crashing the stock market, but he's doing it on purpose. That's a weird thing to brag about. Everyone's making fun of me for pooping my pants, but joke's on them. I pooped my pants on purpose. While everyone else. No, folks, listen up. No, listen, it's very important. While everyone else is playing checkers, I'm pooping my pants. That's how you win by default. They get up when they leave. J.D. bring me a wet wipe on Air Force One. On Air Force One, Trump said, the market crashing is just what America needs. I don't want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something, because that's how medicine works. You take it and everyone dies. All dead. Far from pausing the tariffs, this morning, Trump tripled down, threatening an extra 50% tariff on China, which will raise the price of everything we get from China, which I believe is everything. Trump did that because on Friday, China retaliated against Trump's Liberation Day tariffs by slapping a 34% tariff on U.S. goods. China, if you want a trade war, a trade war is what you'll get. The gloves are off because you make the gloves and we can't afford them anymore. Trump responded, okay, how about you? That's how you box, right? Trump responded to China by posting, if China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8, 2025, United States will impose additional tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9. Then he ended, thank you for your attention to this matter. That's. That's an odd way to end a threat. It's like getting a letter from kidnappers. Give us $50,000 in unmarked bills or you'll never see your husband again. Have a great weekend. Stay sweet.

[Jill]

So.

[Stephen Colbert]

So why is Trump willing to tank the global economy and risk the wrath of American voters? Well, as one White House insider put it, he's at the peak of just not giving a anymore. Okay, Is he taking any shit? Because I would happily send him a steaming bucketful. While the markets were plummeting on Friday, Trump spent the day at his golf course. And the White House released this actual statement. The President won his second round matchup of the Senior Club Championship today in Jupiter, Florida, and advances to the championship round tomorrow. That is an aggressively tone deaf press Release. I'm sorry, Mrs. Jones, I botched the operation and your husband is dead. But this morning, I got the wordle in two. Hazel. Hazel. Luckily, luckily, reporters were aboard Air Force One and they Held the President accountable with tough, hard hitting questions like this one. Any questions?

[Jill]

How was the Bell's tournament?

[Stephen Colbert]

Very good. Because I won.

[Jill]

What's your handicap?

[Stephen Colbert]

I like to win. Oh, I know. His brain is broke. Yeah, yeah. Of course Trump's terrible. But he couldn't tank the global economy all by himself. One of the tariff masterminds is White House economic advisor and Mr. Burns cosplayer Peter Navarro. Now, these tariffs are condemned by most leading economists and most trailing economists. But Navarro did find one guy, an economist named Ron Vera, who was cited as an expert more than a dozen times in Peter Navarro's books. One problem with Ron Vera. For more we turn to our friend Rachel Maddow. The problem is Ron Vera doesn't exist.

[Cory Booker]

He never has.

[Stephen Colbert]

The economics expert that Peter Navarro has long cited, why he's so gung ho on tariffs. This person, Ron Vera, is a made up person. Who is Ron Vera? Ron Vera is an anagram of Navarro, which is his last name. Now I, Stephen Colbert, think this is incredibly dumb, but you know who doesn't? Famed economist Treblok Nepetz. Yes, handsome man, good looking, really good looking. Gu Treblock fully supports Ron Vero. Trump toadies were working overtime to polish these turds. Here's Judge Jeanine.

[Cory Booker]

You know, the uncertainty in the stock.

[Jill]

Market, it isn't necessarily a negative.

[Stephen Colbert]

It can be an indication that things.

[Cory Booker]

Are going to work out.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's just that things are, they're uncertain right now. And you got a president who's swinging for the fences. Yes, he's swinging for the fences. He missed and hit America and the S&P 500, which, as any economist will tell you, stands for scrotum and penis 500. We got a great show for you tonight. Coming up. Senator Cory Booker.

[Jill]

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[Stephen Colbert]

I've been counted out, dismissed, passed over, told I'd never be a golfer with just one arm. But the only thing that feels better than proving people wrong is is out driving them. I'm 14 year old golfer Tommy Morrissey and I want to be remembered for.

[Jill]

My ability as a champion partner of the Masters. Bank of America supports everyone determined to find out what's possible in golf and in life. What would you like the power to do? Bank of America bank of America NA Member FDIC Copyright 2025 bank of America.

[Cory Booker]

Corporation all rights reserved.

[Stephen Colbert]

Welcome back everybody. Ladies and gentlemen, my first guest tonight is the senior senator from New Jersey who just made history, breaking the record for the longest individual speech in the Senate floor with his 25 hour and 5 minute long speech. Please welcome back to the Late show Senator Cory Booker. Cory.

[Cory Booker]

Corey.

[Stephen Colbert]

Cory.

[Cory Booker]

Thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

There you go. Thank you. Well, Senator, thanks for being here. I'm really grateful that you could be here so we can talk through the chaos that is being visited on our country by our government right now. But before we do that, I just want to talk for a second about your speech last week, your 25 hour and 5 minute speech. I know it's unlikely we'll go that long tonight. Okay. But just in case, I have another picture of one of you right here we have, we have some Rolas.

[Cory Booker]

I love that. I love that.

[Stephen Colbert]

Most importantly all, here's the men's room key. Anyway, just feel free.

[Cory Booker]

Yes, yes. I might put that right here.

[Stephen Colbert]

You can call commercial breaks and just.

[Cory Booker]

Walk off if you want.

[Stephen Colbert]

So at any point did you start hallucinating when you were up there?

[Cory Booker]

My worries going into it were frankly having to go to the bathroom. So I did something. That's not smart, not advised. That really ticked off my mom, which was I started dehydrating myself about 24 hours beforehand. Just not drinking.

[Stephen Colbert]

So I. Yeah, seriously, that's how you get a kidney stone, my man.

[Cory Booker]

I have, my mom reminded me that I am a middle aged black guy that's 200 and too much pounds. That, that is not a smart thing. So she wasn't sure how long I would go. She just said, please tap out when you feel it. But my mom has this saying. They said behind every successful child is an astonished parent. So I was happy, I was very happy to astonish her that I could go that long.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, one of the nice aspects of it, you know, you were up there, you weren't talking about you, you were talking about our nation, the challenges it faces. Not just this challenges, but the challenges we always face and the need to actually face them in some realistic and collaborative way. But along the way of talking about that, you managed to wipe out Strom Thurmond's 1957 referee, which was shameful. Can you remind everybody what the previous record was held in trying to stop.

[Cory Booker]

Yes. Strom Thurmond, when he was actually about my age, was trying to stop civil rights and trying to stop the civil rights legislation. While legends were out there fighting for it in the streets, he was trying to block the legislation. And I want to say that he held that record for 68 years, but in many ways, he planted a seed to just really demonstrate that he was not successful. Black guy came along and broke that record, so I'm grateful for that.

[Stephen Colbert]

That is a poetic. That's a poetic denouement of that moment.

[Cory Booker]

Yeah, but look, the reality is he was not successful. I may have broke the speaking record, but he wasn't successful in stopping civil rights from happening, because black people and white people and Asian people, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, all joined together in this rainbow coalition that overcame what he was doing. And that's the secret. Change has never come from Washington. It often comes despite Washington. And it comes to Washington by American people who are saying, I am not satisfied with what's going on, and I'm gonna join a larger movement because it's a moral moment. They said that in the civil rights movement and the labor movement and the LGBTQ movement. People who were from varied backgrounds said, this is a moral moment, and I'm not gonna be a spectator to American history. I'm gonna join the cause of making American history.

[Stephen Colbert]

You quote. You quote John Lewis saying, you know, let's make good trouble. You know, let's make good trouble. You say, the power of the people isn't in the people in power. In this democracy, the power of people is greater than the people in power. Why does it always have to be the people? Don't we elect representatives to go to Washington, D.C. so we don't have to think about this all the time?

[Cory Booker]

Look, I will tell you this. I serve with some extraordinary human beings in people I look up to even. You know, you take a Tammy Duckworth who lost her legs in combat and is on the floor and fights for things and wins battles that people don't know, whether it's for reproductive health or for our veterans. So there are good people fighting to do good things. But the history of this country, we have to understand we are here not because of the people in Washington. I always say that we didn't get the suffrage women's right to vote because a bunch of men on the Senate floor put their hands in and said, okay, fellas, let's give Women, the right to vote. Ready, Break. You know, no, it happened because somebody like Alice Paul, a young woman in her 20s from New Jersey, actually did the first ever protest in front of the White House. And then when they arrested her and what they do to often strong women, especially back in those days, they put her in a sane asylum. Before Gandhi, she was going on hunger strikes in prison. And it was the First Amendment, the press that told her story shamed the country. And the president of the United States, who she was protesting came out and joined the suffrage movement. It has always been the people of this nation. During the abolitionist movement, the greatest infrastructure project in the history of America was white people and black people in the abolitionist movement joining together to create the Underground Railroad, liberating people, not waiting for Washington to do it. And so that should teach us right now, there are good people in Washington, hardworking people on both sides of the aisle that have done good things, but real change, especially in the moral moments in our country when the character of our nation is in the balance, like right now, it has always been the change led by the people. And that's why in that speech, I wanted to center the voices of Americans and read as much as I could the letters we're getting, the demands we're getting, the people who are saying, cory Booker, you're not doing enough. Which they were. Right.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, let's talk about your constituents. You held a town hall. I know that you went to one of the hands off rallies, at least one. And you also held a town hall. What are you hearing from your constituents? What do they most want you and the other people in Washington to do right now? What's upsetting them the most?

[Cory Booker]

Well, we're in a country right now where we have a president that in the most crass way is saying, hey, I'm going to cut all of this stuff in the name of efficiency, which is really creating more expense and more hardship. When you cut somebody's health care or ability to see a primary care physician, you actually are pushing them to use the emergency room as their primary care place, which is the most expensive type of health care, as opposed to preventative care. And so what I'm hearing is as much as you say that, hey, you stood for 25 hours, you and I are both sitting here knowing that somebody right now is on their third shift at the, at the diner because they can't afford to pay rent unless they work a full around the clock. Somebody's in a hospital right now who is a nurse's assistant changing bedpans and is catching extra shifts. We have some police officers who are standing, she's standing on a third shift being held over. There are Americans that stand every day. But what they're angry about is that this promise that we made, the very dream of this country, that if I work hard, if I play by the rules, if I raise my family, we can make it. And that ability to make it is being undermined by this president who's taking away retirement security, who's attacking bedrock promises like Social Security or Medicaid. And that, to me, the voices of these courageous folks, they're heartbreaking. And if your heart's not broken, I always say, if America hasn't broken your heart, you don't love her enough. When you see people like Joseph, who came to my town hall, who's on the autism spectrum, who's got severe anxiety, standing in front of crowds. But when he heard I was coming out after this speech, he wanted to come and his mother introduced him. And he read from this sheet in his own handwriting, don't let them take away my Medicaid. And if that doesn't call upon your conscience, if it doesn't call upon your heart to not let this fear that we all have right now that 80 million Americans could lose their health care because Donald Trump has told Congress cut $880 billion from Medicaid in order for me to give bigger tax cuts to the wealthiest in this country who don't need them. If that doesn't motivate you, I question the strength of your love. And I worry about the poverty in our country, not materially, the poverty of empathy for your neighbor.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, let's talk about those complaints that people have to give the devil more deserves. Donald Trump was elected because people had these economic fears already.

[Cory Booker]

People felt like people put their trust in him.

[Stephen Colbert]

They felt that he could fix their problems. Now he betrays that trust over and over again by rewarding the richest people and rewarding himself, frankly. But when Joe Biden was elected, I remember thinking, let's not go back to a pre Donald Trump America because a pre Donald Trump America gave us Donald Trump. What are the changes that have to happen that we don't find ourselves in a bind where people acting out of their own self interest, which so many people have the right to do as voters. They want to do what's best for themselves and their family. What needs to most change in America so that a demagogue cannot seize the reins of fear?

[Cory Booker]

Well, first of all, understand that from Father Conklin with his demagogic anti Semitic. He was the, not just the number one radio station. The majority of Americans listened to him. He was a demagogue. McCarthyism. And that every generation has seen demagoguery. I remember sitting with a great historian, Jon Meacham, which he said, nothing that's happening right now is unprecedented. It's all very precedented. So the fact that demagoguery rises in our country or other countries is not unique, and it tends to possibly happen.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, here's what's unprecedented. Father Coughlin and Joe McCarthy were not the commander in chief and the President of the United States with a Congress that would not stand up to him at all.

[Cory Booker]

Right.

[Stephen Colbert]

Case in point, Donald Trump is signing executive orders. A lot of presidents use executive orders. Never this many, never this fast, and never eliminating things completely by fiat. He says, Department of Education, gone. I signed a piece of paper. It's gone. Can he do that, or does Congress have to agree?

[Cory Booker]

Well, let's just speak to the specific truth that you told. And this is why it's such a moral moment, is because never before in my lifetime or I think in the century, last century of America, have we seen somebody to rise to power who this callously, cruelly and in a craven manner disregards our constitutional principles and threatens the bedrock needs of many Americans. Health care, retirement security, honoring our veterans. So what you're saying is absolutely true. And the call then, at this moment, when you see someone like him rise, it is now testing our nation and our nation's constitutional principles more than I ever imagined possible. But the question cannot be, what is he doing? The question is, what are we going to do in response to that? And so for me, I can sit here, I always say it's a state of sedentary agitation where we're so upset about what's going on, but we don't ask ourselves, what can we do? And what I said on the floor in the 25 hours, and it was a healing process in many ways for myself to say very plainly, we have not done enough. I have not done enough. The Democratic Party must accept responsibility, not for complicity, but for contributing to the pathway to this kind of demagoguery, to this kind of person being in the White House. So we have to tell that truth. But it still falls to the question is, what are you going to do? When this moment in history came, where did you stand? And I will say to you again, as you said it already, the power of the people is greater than the people in power. And I know you're afraid, but Fear is a necessary precondition to courage. I know you're anger angry and I'm angry. But anger can either eat you up inside or it could be fuel for the fight. If anything that history tells us, if American history is anything, it is a perpetual testimony to the achievement of impossible things against impossible odds. In my generation, this is what's exciting to me. This is the last baby boomer president we're seeing, the last baby boomer leaders in Congress. This is a generation that I call the Civil Rights generation that has extraordinary accomplishments, but new generations are rising. Ex millennial Generation Z. And it's our turn now not just to talk about what we're against or who we're against. It's our time now to redeem the American dream, to dream this country new, to see the new possibilities that our parents and our forefathers couldn't imagine. We have the moment now to shape this nation and we cannot lose it, and we especially can't lose it to a hate filled demagogue that wants to tear down our country. We need to now rebuild it and reimagine it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Your. Your protest. Your protest ended the same day Democrats had a win in Wisconsin where a liberal judge won a Supreme Court race that Elon Musk was pouring tens of millions of dollars into. He lost there, but he's been busy elsewhere. Doge's targeting of Social Security has sent into what has been described as a death spiral and chaos. They slashed usaid. It essentially does not exist anymore. Thousands of employees across the federal government have lost their jobs, been put on leave.

[Cory Booker]

I just want to tell you how violative of our values it should be. People say USAID less than 1% of our budget, so less than one penny of every dollar you send down, put scientists right in the middle of fighting Ebola or fighting treatment resistant tuberculosis or fighting the bird flu. In a world now that we now know that an infectious disease anywhere is a threat to public health everywhere. When the horrific earthquake happened in Myanmar, we didn't have the resources to respond because USAID wasn't there. And the people that are filling the gap don't share our values of democracy, freedom and justice. The Chinese stepped forward and said, let us help you, let us stand up. There is a global competition going on. And I know we fundamentally should be focused on the trashing of our economy. Inflation is going up, people's 401 accounts are going down. But in this interconnected globe, those issues matter. And I don't. And I've been one of the people defending USAID and don't want to lose that. I sit down with foreign leaders and I had a European come to European foreign minister. I don't want to name the country, but with a very thick accent, looked at me and said, I can't say all the English that he spoke, colorful French or Greek or whatever it was, but he basically looks at me and quite literally says, what the is going on with your country? We need you. We need you. And you're retreating from world leadership. You're retreating from being the light of democracy that we need you to be.

[Stephen Colbert]

I have friends in New Zealand and they said, this time we're mad at you.

[Cory Booker]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Last time we were mad at Trump.

[Cory Booker]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

And I said, oh, that's terrible. You guys are like the country that likes us. And they said, we're the country that loves you and we're mad at you this time. Right, right.

[Cory Booker]

And this is what King said. He said what we're ultimately gonna have to repent for is not the vitriolic words and violent actions of the bad people, but the appalling silence and inaction of the good people. This is one of those moments where we should be looking at ourselves in the mirror and saying, why did we have such a low voter turnout? Why didn't we understand what's at stake right now?

[Stephen Colbert]

Let's talk about action and inaction. And one of the things that made so many people mad at the Democratic leadership is voting for the cr, Right, which is not a clean CR that had a lot of cuts in it. That seemed like the only place where the Democrats could exercise any leverage over what was going on, the slash and burn going on in Washington, D.C. i had Senator Schumer on last week to talk about this, and I have great respect for Senator Schumer, but I found his answers less than nutritious. And I'm wondering why you voted against it.

[Cory Booker]

Look, for me, that was a catalytic point. And I thought that if we took a stand there, then we would not stand alone. I think faith is one of these things that when you step out into scary, dark things, faith is knowing one of two things is going to happen. Either you're going to find solid ground underneath you, or the universe will send you people that will teach you how to fly, that will soar with you. When we started that 24, five hour journey, we had no idea how people were going to react, but we knew we needed to do something, do something different and take a risk. I thought the American people, if we took that stand and the Republicans shut down the Government. I thought that they would be with our side. It would be a galvanizing moment. But we disagreed. What we can't do now and years and years. A very good portion of my life was defined by playing football. And I used to know when we were going to score on the other team, and how did I know we were going to score on the other team is when I started hearing people in that huddle, argue amongst themselves, demeanor, degrade them for missing a tackle or making a bad play. This is one of those moments where we're going to have differences. But I'm telling you, if everybody in your coalition agrees with everything that you believe in, your coalition is not big enough. We can have some room for mistakes, we can have some room for divisions. But when it comes to unifying in the cause of our country, when millions of Americans are literally on the verge of losing their health care, when seniors who've been saving for retirement have seen their 401ks lose so much money that they now realize they may have to extend retirement for years, when we have veterans, perhaps the people that deserve our deepest respect and appreciation, losing their jobs, being fired more than any president has fired veterans, and losing the services that they deserve. This is a time to say, okay, I may disagree with you, I may disagree with what you did, but right now we're gonna unify in this fight because we've got bigger challenges before us.

[Stephen Colbert]

We gotta go here. But I wanna ask you one other question before we go, and that is the international. As we said, the international response has been, other than Russia, it's been, who want to build a statue to Trump. They've said on state media, yes, it's been pretty appalled across the board. Prime Minister, the new Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, I believe his name is Mark Carney. He gave a speech that was heartbreaking but resonant. He said that at this moment, when these tariffs go up, when Trump makes allies of our enemies and enemies of our allies, that the United States abdicates its role of leadership in the world. And he says that is a tragedy, but we have to face it. Can America walk back, in your opinion? Can America walk back from the bridges that this man is burning? Should they trust us again? Should we even be trusted with the launch codes, if this is the sort of person that we elect?

[Cory Booker]

You know, I formed my speech around John Lewis, who said the importance of getting in good trouble. And he would tell you if he was here, and I believe he's in heaven, that the change that he most made, perhaps in his life was before he even got to Congress. It was because he, as a young man decided to make good trouble. But when he did get to Congress, years later, he was beat on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. He was beat at Freedom Rides. He was physically assaulted at sit ins. And he said that a man, elder man, came with his grandchild and asked him for his forgiveness. He admitted that he was one of the people that beat him. And John Lewis forgave him because he said, everybody needs mercy. Everybody deserves a pathway to redemption. The soul of our country right now, I think, needs redemption. And all of us have to start to expand our hearts. We've had very difficult days, but the only way we get from here to there is start to embody and inhabit the best of our virtues and values. I say this about religion. Before you tell me about your religion first, show it to me and how you treat other people. Before you tell me how much you love your God, show it to me and how much you love God's children. Before you teach me about the passion you have for your faith, show it to me through the compassion you have for others. That's religion. You and I are people of faith. But there is a civic gospel in this country that we need more than ever do. We have this Declaration of Independence that we. But the Declaration of Independence ends with this remarkable statement that these imperfect geniuses put down, which was a declaration of interdependence. They said that we must mutually pledge, pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor now more than ever. The civic gospel of America. Yes, Canada needs it. New Zealand needs it. The world needs it. But it will not be real anywhere until it's real in the hearts of Americans. And you cannot point fingers and ask other people to live that spirit. You've got to embody it. And I promise you, and I've learned this in my own life. If you have the courage, even if your legs shake, if you have the courage to speak up, even if your voice breaks, you will be an inspiration to another, and then another, and then another. And that will begin to overwhelm all the darkness in this world. Be decide with conviction like John Lewis, that you'll be a point of light, that you'll cause some good trouble. And before you realize it, you have redeemed the soul of a weary nation.

[Stephen Colbert]

Senator, thank you for being here.

[Cory Booker]

Thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Thank you for your urgency. Thank you, Senator Cory Booker, everybody. Thank you for listening to the Late Show POD show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me. Come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives.

[Jill]

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[Cory Booker]

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