LDF Applauds Senator Cory Booker’s Historic Speech Defending Civil Rights, Denouncing Dangerous Actions of Trump Administration

Read a PDF of our statement here.

The Legal Defense Fund (LDF) today applauded yesterday's historic, record-setting speech by U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), in which he condemned the Trump Administration's sweeping rollback of civil rights and urged action to defend democracy.

LDF Director of Policy Demetria McCain issued the following statement:

"Yesterday, Senator Cory Booker gave voice to what millions across this country are feeling: we are in a moment of deep crisis for American democracy and civil rights. His record-setting speech was not only an act of extraordinary moral clarity - it was a necessary alarm about the dangerous erosion of the rights and protections that generations fought to secure.

We thank Senator Booker for his unwavering commitment and for using his voice to elevate the profound harms this Administration is doing to our democracy, our institutions, and our civil liberties. Senator Booker made clear that this is not politics as usual. The rollback of civil rights across nearly every arena - from voting rights to public education, policing to fair housing - is deliberate, coordinated, and unprecedented.

Since our founding in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund has always been on the front lines of this fight - from ending state-sponsored segregation to striking down barriers to voting access to advancing equal access to employment and housing. Today is no different, as we use every legal tool available to challenge these rollbacks, defend the rule of law, and protect the rights of Black Americans and other marginalized communities.

We applaud Senator Booker's courageous stand. But one voice is not enough. We implore his colleagues in the Senate to meet this moment with the urgency it demands - and to fulfill their constitutional obligation to defend the rights, freedoms, and dignity of all people."

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